IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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Photographic 

Sciences 

Cbrporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


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CiHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/ICIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historlques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


D 


n 


D 
D 
D 
D 

D 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagde 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  et/ou  pelliculie 


Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


I      I    Coloured  maps/ 


Cartes  gdographiques  en  couleur 


Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relid  avec  d'autres  documents 


Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  liure  serr6e  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intirieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajout^es 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  6t6  filmdes. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppldmentaires; 


L'Institut  a  microfilm6  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  ddtails 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  methods  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqu^s  ci-dessous. 


I      I    Coloured  pages/ 


D 
D 


X 


D 


X 


D 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filmd  au  taux  de  reduction  indiq<i6  ci-dessous. 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommag^es 

Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  pellicul6es 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  d6color6es,  tachetdes  ou  piqu6es 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  d6tach6es 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 


I      I    Quality  of  print  varies/ 


Quality  in6gale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  materiel  suppldmentaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


The 
totl- 


The 
poss 
of  tl 
filmi 


Orig 
begi 
the  I 
sion 
othe 
first 
sion, 
or  ill 


The 
shall 
TINl 
whic 

IVIap 
diffe 
entir 
begii 
right 
requi 
met^ 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6t6  filmdes  d  nouveau  de  fapon  i 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

ma 

30X 

/ 

12X 

16X 

20X 

24X 

28X 

32X 

The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Library  of  the  Public 
Archives  of  Canada 


L'exemplaire  film6  fut  reproduit  grAce  d  la 
g6n6rosit6  de: 

La  bibliothdque  des  Archives 
publiques  du  Canada 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  •—»>  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Les  images  sufvantes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet6  de  l'exemplaire  film6,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dent  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimte  sont  film6s  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmfo  en  commengant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaftra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE  ",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
film^s  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diff6rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clich6,  ii  est  fiimd  &  partir 
de  I'angle  supdrieur  gauche,  de  gauche  &  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

2 

3 

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8 

9 

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where  tht 

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permanei 


Ottoman 
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fense,  ai 
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virtual  f 
internal 
deadly  i 


•./f;-l 


THE  POLICY  OF  AOORANDIZEMENT. 


541 


'■  \ 


[ilic  " Descent  of  Man,"  and  consider  the  whole 
theory  from  the  point  of  view  here  laid  down. 
The  explanation  of  almost  all  the  ornament  and 
colors  of  birds  and  insects  as  having  been  pro- 
duced by  the  perceptions  and  choice  of  the  fe- 
males has,  I  believe,  staggered  many  evolution- 
ists, but  has  been  provisionally  accepted  because 
i*  was  the  only  theory  that  even  attempted  to  ex- 

[  plain  the  facts.  It  may  perhaps  be  a  relief  to 
some  of  them,  as  it  has  been  to  myself,  to  find 
that  the  phenomtnr  can  be  shown  to  depend  on 
the  general  laws  of  development,  and  on  the  ac- 

*  tion  of  "  natural  selection,"  which  theory  will,  I 
venture  to  think,  be  relieved  from  an  abnormal 
excrescence,  and  gain  additional  vitality  by  the 
adoption  of  my  view  of  the  subject. 

Although  we  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  tropical  light  and  heat  can  in  no  sense  be 
considered  the  cause  of  color,  there  remains  to 
be  explained  the  undoubted  fact  that  all  the  more 
Jntense  and  gorgeous  tints  arc  manifested  by  the 
f.animal  life  of  the  tropics,  while  in  some  groups, 
such  as  butterflies  and  birds,  there  is  a  marked 
preponderance  of  highly-colored  species.  This 
is  probably  due  to  a  variety  of  causes,  some  of 
which  we  can  indicate,  while  others  remain  to  be 
discovered.  The  luxuriant  vegetation  of  the  trop- 
ics throughout  the  entire  year  affords  so  much 
concealment,  that  color  may  there  be  safely  de- 
veloped to  a  much  greater  extent  than  in  climates 
where  the  trees  are  bare  in  winter,  during  which 
season  the  struggle  for  existence  is  most  severe, 
and  even  the  slightest  disadvantage  may  prove 
fatal.  Equally  important,  probably,  has  been  the 
permanence  of  favorable  conditions  in  the  tropics. 


allowing  certain  groups  to  continue  dominant  foi 
long  periods,  and  thus  to  carry  out  in  one  un- 
broken line  whatever  developments  of  plumage 
or  color  may  once  have  acquired  an  ascendency. 
Changes  of  climatal  conditions,  and  preeminently 
the  Glacial  epoch,  probably  led  to  the  extinction 
of  a  host  of  highly-developed  and  finely-colored 
insects  and  birds  in  temperate  zones,  just  as  we 
know  that  it  led  to  the  extinction  of  the  larger 
and  more  powerful  mammalia  which  formerly 
characterized  the  temperate  zone  in  both  herai- 
spheres.  This  view  is  supported  by  the  fact  that 
it  is  among  those  groups  only  which  are  now  ex- 
clusively tropical  that  all  the  more  extraordinary 
developments  of  ornament  and  color  are  found. 
The  local  causes  of  color  will  also  have  acted 
best  in  regions  where  the  climatal  conditions  re- 
mained constant,  and  where  migration  was  un- 
nece.'^sary ;  while  whatever  direct  effect  may  be 
produced  by  light  or  heat  will  necessarily  have 
acted  more  powerfully  within  the  tropics.  And, 
lastly,  all  these  causes  have  been  in  action  over  an 
actually  greater  area  in  tropical  than  in  temper- 
ate zones,  while  estimated  potentially,  in  propor- 
tion to  its  life-sustaining  power,  the  lands  which 
enjoy  a  practically  tropical  climate  (extending  as 
they  do  considerably  beyond  the  geographical 
tropics)  are  very  much  larger  than  the  temper- 
ate regions  of  the  earth.  Combining  the  effects 
of  all  these  various  causes  we  are  quite  able 
to  understand  the  superiority  of  the  tropical 
parts  of  the  globe,  not  only  in  the  abundance 
and  variety  of  their  forms  of  life,  but  also  as  re- 
gards the  ornamental  appendages  and  vivid  col- 
oration which  these  forms  present. — Macmillan^s 
Magazine. 


;r 


k' 


THE   POLICY  OF  AGGEANDIZEMENT. 


By  Professor  GOLDWIN  SMITH. 


WHATEVER  may  be  the  result  of  the  pres- 
ent campaign  or  of  the  present  war,  the 
Ottoman  Empire  is  doomed.  It  was  already 
doomed  when  England  took  up  arms  in  its  de- 
fense, and,  in  the  supposed  interest  of  her  East- 
ern possessions,  became  its  quasi-protectress,  the 
sponsor  for  the  engagements  to  its  Christian  sub- 
jects, which  it  has  shamelessly  violated,  and  the 
virtual  surety  for  its  now  repudiated  loans.  The 
internal  causes  of  its  decay  arc  more  certain  and 
deadly  in  their  operation  than  the  attacks  of  ene- 


M^Y^'t 


mies  from  without,  which,  in  fact,  evoke  and  re- 
vive the  only  element  of  strength  left  in  its  com- 
position— the  native  valor  of  the  Ottoman.  It  is 
one  of  those  military  empires  which  have  never 
become  industrial,  and  which,  the  rush  of  con- 
quest being  over,  anc  the  conquerors  having  set- 
tled down  as  the  dominant  race,  subsisting  on 
the  labor  of  the  conquered,  have  been  hurried  by 
corruption  and  sensuality  to  the  grave.  It  has 
never  shown  the  slightest  sign  of  civilization — 
political,  intellectual,  or  commercial.     If  there 


\'4 


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o/- 


542 


THE  POPULAR  SCIENCE  MONTULY.— SUPPLEMENT. 


r 


has  been  any  :rade  in  the  empire,  it  has  been 
among  the  subject  races,  especially  those  whose 
yoke  has  been  loosened,  not  among  the  Turks. 
Political  organization  has  never  got  beyond  the 
coarse  and  barbarous  form  of  military  satrapies, 
whose  rule  is  cruelty,  and  whose  taxation  is  rap- 
'ne.  Even  for  military  science  the  Turk  has 
recourse  to  the  foreigner.  There  being  no  se- 
curity for  the  fruits  of  labor,  production  has 
failed,  and  the  blight  of  barrenness  has  spread 
over  some  of  the  fairest  regions  of  the  earth. 
The  provinces  are  heterogeneous,  and  under  such 
a  system  of  government  no  progress  toward  as- 
similation could  be  made.  A  fatalist  religion  has 
repressed  effort,  even  the  effort  necessary  to  save 
life  from  tlie  plague.  The  same  religion,  by  its 
political  intolerance,  has  precluded  the  fusion  of 
the  conqueror  with  the  concjuered,  and  kept  hos- 
tile races  facing  each  other  in  every  part  of  the 
empire.  The  numbers  of  the  dominant  race  have 
been  always  dwindling  under  the  effects  of  vice 
and  of  the  military  conscription,  which,  as  the 
slaves  cannot  be  trusted  with  arms,  falls  on  the 
masters  alone.  By  the  institution  of  the  Jani- 
zaries, which  constantly  infused  new  blood  into 
the  miUtary  system,  the  period  of  conquest  was 
artificially  prolonged,  and,  in  measuring  the  ra- 
pidity of  Turkish  decay,  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  less  than  two  centuries  ago  the  Turks 
were  still  conquerors.  But,  in  the  absence  of 
external  intervention,  a  century  would  probably 
have  sufficed  to  complete  the  process  of  dissolu- 
tion ;  the  ill-cemented  provinces  of  the  empire 
would  have  fallen  apart,  and  the  satraps  would 
have  defied  the  bow-string,  and  set  up  for  them- 
selves. The  revolt  of  Egypt  was  an  example 
which,  had  things  been  left  to  their  natural 
course,  other  pashas  would  have  followed.  Di- 
plomacy intervened,  and  held  together  the  crum- 
bling mass.  When  the  resources  of  fiscal  rob- 
bery were  exhausted,  and  the  sheep  of  the  rayah 
had  been  sheared  in  winter  to  pay  his  taxes,  Eng- 
lish coffers,  opened  by  the  confident  assurances 
of  English  ministers,  supplied  money,  of  which 
the  greater  part  was  squandered  in  barbarous 
and  bestial  luxury,  while  the  rest  provided  a 
standing  army,  which,  by  rendering  internal  in- 
surrection against  the  tyranny  hopeless,  com- 
pellei-  the  oppressed  to  stretch  their  hands  for 
aid  to  a  foreign  liberator,  and  thus  embroiled 
Europe ;  just  as  our  ancestors  under  James  II., 
who  had  a  standing  army,  were  compelled  to  call 
in  a  foreign  deliverer ;  whereas,  under  Charles  I., 
who  had  no  standing  army,  they  were  able  to  re- 
dress their  wrongs  with  their  own  hands.     The 


present  Turkish  army  may  be  victorious,  but  it 
will  be  the  last,  unless,  by  a  miracle,  confidenc«i 
can  be  planted  again  in  the  bosoms  of  capitalists! 
who  have  been  swindled.    Russia  would,  perhaps, 
have  acted  more  wisely  had  she  paused  awhile, 
and  allowed  bankruptcy  and  repudiation  to  do 
their  work.     The  question  is  one,  not  of  senti-i 
ment  or  religion,  but  of  political  science;  and  it'; 
is  a  thing  to  be  noted  that  a  man  so  sagacious  in'; 
a  certain  sphere  as  Palmerston,  so  adroit  a  man- 
ager of  party,  so  clever  a  diplomat?st,  with  all 
possible  means  of  information  at  his  command, 
should  have  persuaded  himself  that  the  Ottoman 
Empire  was  in  course  of  rapid  regeneration,  only 
needing  loans  to  complete  the  process,  and  shouldi 
;  have  induced  his  countrymen  to  lay  down  their 
I  money  on  the  strength  of  that  belief.     It  shows. 
1  that  in  such  questions  the  wisdom  which  styles . 
I  itself  practical,  because  it  excludes  general  views 
I  and  considerations,  may  lead  to  conclusions  the 
!  reverse  of  wise.     An  ancient  philosopher  is  sai(? 
to  have  convinced  his  sneering  countrymen  of  th 
utiHty  of  his  science  by  a  successful  speculatio 
in  olives.     We  should  be  surprised  to  find  thf 
any  one  versed  in  the  philosophy  of  history  ha 
been  seduced  into  investing  in  Turkish  bonds. 

Fall  the  Ottoman  Empire  will,  by  corruptic  ' 
if  not  by  the  sword;  and  its  fall  will  apparent -j 
bring  on  a  crisis  in  the  destinies  of  England,  who 
will  be  called  on  to  decide  whether,  out  of  the 
wreck,  she  will  take  Egypt.  If  she  does,  she 
will  be  committed  far  more  deeply  than  ever  to 
the  policy  of  aggrandizement ;  foreign  dominion 
sustained  by  arras  will  assume  a  greatly-increased 
importance  with  her  relatively  to  domestic  ob- 
jects ;  and  the  spirit  of  her  people  will  undergo 
a  corresponding  change.  Egypt  obviously  means 
Eastern  Africa,  probably,  indeed  almost  certainly,  I 
Syria,  from  which  the  fatal  canal  is  commanded  i 
almost  as  much  as  from  Egypt ;  possibly  Crete, 
or  some  other  convenient  island.  But  it  means  a  *i 
good  deal  more  than  this.  It  means  that  England 
is  to  undertake  to  secure  against  any  possible 
attack  the  whole  of  the  overland  route  to  India ; 
for,  of  course,  there  is  no  use  in  holding  the  gate 
when  the  avenue  to  it  is  in  other  hands,  and,  if 
Port  Said  is  the  gate,  the  avenue  to  it  is  the  Medi- 
terranean. To  India  by  the  Cape  >ve  had,  as  it 
were,  a  private  way,  not  leading  by  many  hostile 
doors,  nor  obliging  you  to  appear  as  dominant 
under  the  noses  of  rival  nations ;  but  the  over- 
land route  runs  by  the  coasts  of  a  whole  line  of 
maritime  powers,  to  which  will  be  added  Ger- 
many, if  she  ever  acquires  Trieste,  and  Russia 
(exasperated  by  our  demonstrations  of  enmity), 


'-m- 
V* 


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M 


!         11 


r^M 


V 


.V.  - 


THE  luLTCY  OF  AOGEAXDIZEMEXT. 


543 


'•# 


^ 


» 


I 

I? 


!     1/ 


if  she  ever  acquires  Constantinople ;  it  ia  liable 
to  attack  I'rom  every  port  between  Cherbourg  and 
Port  Said ;  its  wardership  will  oblige  us  to  flaunt 
the  flag  of  our  domination  in  the  faces  of  all  the 
dwellers  on  the  Mediterranean.  The  present 
helplessness  of  France,  no  doubt,  is  our  oppor- 
tunity; but  we  are  credibly  assured  that  her 
jealousy  will  bo  at  once  aroused,  and  that  her 
hostility  awaits  us  in  the  end. 

It  is  probable  that  in  the  present  mood  of  the 
nation  aggrandizement  will  carry  the  day.  We 
say  mood,  and  it  does  not  seem  that  there  has 
been  any  definite  change  of  conviction  such  as 
new  arguments  produce  since  the  time  when 
more  moderate  views  prevailed.  But  the  nation 
is  now  flushed  with  wealth,  and  with  the  sense  of 
power  which  wcaltii  begets;  it  is  infected  with 
the  military  spirit  which  (ills  armed  Europe ;  it 
has  built  a  great  fleet  of  iron-clads,  and  feels  in- 
clined to  show  its  power.  The  aristocratic  party 
is  in  the  ascendant,  and  British  aristocracy,  as 
well  as  Russian  despotism,  is  willing  to  divert 
the  mind  of  the  people  from  progress  at  home 
to  aggrandizement  abroad.  The  knowledge  that 
the  Government  is  favorable  to  them  stimulates 
to  activity  all  enterprising  spirits,  and  at  the  de- 
cisive moment  they  throw  into  the  scale,  by  en- 
thusiastic and  combined  effort,  a  weight  out  of 
proportion  to  their  mere  numberp.  In  such  a 
state  of  excitement  are  spirits  of  tliis  sort  at  pres- 
ent, and  so  great  has  been  the  development  of 
their  ambition,  that  we  read  projects  for  making 
England  mistress  of  all  the  water  communications 
of  the  globe.  What  she  would  do  with  that 
magnificent  possession  we  have  not  been  in- 
formed. We  need  not  to  be  informed  what  the 
other  nations  would  do  if  they  found  all  the 
water  communications  of  the  globe  seized  into 
the  hands  of  one  domineering  power.  There  are 
politicians  avIio,  if  they  had  their  way,  would 
make  the  battle  of  Dorking  a  reality  in  spite  of 
Nature  and  of  Fate. 

Those  who  counsel  England  to  seize  on  all 
the  water  communications  of  the  globe  seem  to 
forget  that,  though  still  far  the  first  of  maritime 
powers,  she  is  not,  as  she  was  at  the  close  of  the 
war  with  Napoleon,  sole  mistress  of  the  seas. 
Other  countries  now  have  their  navies,  which, 
though  singly  not  a  match  for  hers,  united  must 
be  a  good  deal  more  than  a  match,  and  which, 
moreover,  would  be  free  to  strike  with  their  full 
force,  while  she  would  have  to  disperse  her  force 
for  the  purpose  of  shielding  unguarded  depend- 
encies in  all  parts  of  the  world.  Nor  is  it  in 
this  respect  only  that  her  position  is  changed. 


Iler  naval  and  military  power  depends  partly 
upon  her  superiority  in  wealth ;  her  superiority 
in  wealth  depends  in  great  measure  on  her  su- 
premacy in  manufactures,  and  this  also  has  been 
greatly  reduced  by  the  development  of  manufact- 
ures in  other  countries  since  the  Napoleonic 
wars.  The  commercial  progress  of  other  coun- 
tries, especially  of  France,  where  the  military 
spirit  seems  to  be  gradually  giving  way  to  the 
commercial,  threatens  British  interests,  even  Brit- 
ish interests  in  the  East,  more  seriously  than  the 
approach  ol  Russia  to  Herat. 

That  there  are  certain  classes,  administrative, 
military,  and  commercial,  which  have  a  special 
interest  in  a  policy  of  aggrandizement,  no  one 
needs  to  be  told ;  our  ears  ring  with  the  vocifer- 
ous demonstrations  of  the  fact.  What  it  seems 
particularly  desirable  to  elicit,  before  the  irrevo- 
cable step  of  occupying  Egypt  is  taken,  is  the 
proof  that  foreign  dominion  is  equally  beneficial 
to  the  whole  people.  Beneficial,  we  mean,  either 
in  the  way  of  material  well-being  or  in  the  way 
of  real  moral  and  intellectual  elevation.  The 
mere  pride  of  dominion  we  confess  does  not  seem 
to  us  a  sufficient  object.  Besides  being  radi- 
cally antagonistic  to  the  tendencies  of  modern 
civilization,  its  enjoyment  is  confined  to  the  few 
who  play  the  game;  it  is  not  shared  by  the  ;  .any 
who  pay  and  bleed,  scarcely  conscious  all  the 
time  of  the  existence  of  an  empire. 

To  all  who  have  not  entirely  abandoned  them- 
selves  to  the  prevailing  impulse  it  must  be  clear 
that  aggrandizement  is  a  question  to  which  there 
are  two  sides.  That  there  are  two  sides  to  it  in 
a  moral  point  of  view,  we  all  imply  as  often  as 
we  denounce  on  moral  grounds  the  territorial 
ambition  of  Russia.  But  let  us  put  the  question 
of  morality  aside.  In  truth,  it  does  not  present 
itself  in  a  very  serious  form  so  far  as  the  occu- 
pation of  Egypt  is  concerned.  The  general  con- 
currence of  the  powers,  at  all  events,  if  it  could 
be  obtained,  might  relieve  us  from  any  misgivings 
on  that  score.  The  khedive  is,  to  the  mass  of 
his  unhappy  subjects,  not  a  national  sovereign, 
but  an  alien  oppressor,  whose  dominion  has  no 
foundation  but  brute  force,  and  whose  power  is 
exercised  without  the  slightest  regard  for  the 
welfare  of  the  people.  Anybody  who  can  is 
morally  at  liberty  to  overturn  him  and  relieve 
the  victims  of  his  oppression.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  English  government,  however  it  might 
affect  the  destinies  of  the  country  in  the  end, 
would  at  present  be  an  enormous  change  for  the 
better.  Nor  is  it  easy  to  see  who  could  cast  a 
stone  at  us.     Certainly  not  France,  with  Algeria 


1 


544 


TEE  POPULAR  SCIENCE  MONTULY.— SUPPLEMENT. 


in  her  hands.  Bismarck  is  wise  enough,  he  is 
sufficiently  conscious  of  the  conditions  of  real 
strength,  und  sufficiently  in  accord  with  the 
spirit  of  his  age  himself,  to  abstain  from  distant 
acquisitions ;  but  we  need  fear  no  moral  protests 
on  his  part. 

And  so  with  regard  to  the  Empire  of  India, 
which  is  the  ihing  mainly  in  question  all  the 
time,  an(J  for  the  sake  of  which,  principally, 
these  further  acquisitions  are  proposed.  Once 
acquired  it  must  be  kept ;  mere  anarchy  would 
be  the  consequence  of  our  withdrawal  from  it ; 
and  its  acquisition  commenced  in  a  period  which, 
though  not  so  very  remote,  was  yet  anterior,  if 
not  to  international  morality,  certainly  to  the  in- 
clusion within  the  pale  of  international  morality 
of  those  who  were  net  within  the  pale  of  Christen- 
dom. No  government  in  Europe  at  that  time 
would  have  shrunk  from  taking  the  territory  of 
the  pagans  of  Hlndostan  any  more  than  they 
shrank  from  enslaving  the  pagans  of  Africa. 
France,  since  our  censor,  was  at  that  time  our 
corapptitor,  and  she  herself  took  Algeria  at  a 
later  day,  when  the  light  of  a  higher  morality 
had  at  least  dawned  upon  the  civilized  world. 

With  the  question  of  morality,  we  repeat,  wo 
have  here  nothing  to  do ;  but  to  the  question  of 
expediency  als-  -oust  be  admitted  that  there 
are  two  sides.  iec  ,y  of  empires  is  the  theme 

of  history.  Th(  .jcay  because  they  are  sustained 
not  by  the  moral  forces  which  sustain  national 
happiness,  and  the  nature  of  which  is  to  increase 
in  strength,  but  by  physical  force,  the  nature  of 
which  is  to  decline,  if  not  positively  yet  (what 
comes  to  the  same  thing)  relatively  to  the  forces 
around  it.  There  is  no  reason  why  British  vir- 
tue, energy,  and  industry,  should  not  continue  as 
they  are,  or  increase  with  the  lapse  of  time  ;  and, 
therefore,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  Ncw-Zea- 
lander  should  ever  moralize  over  tiie  ruins  of  the 
British  nation  ;  but  the  man  of  the  future,  who- 
ever he  may  be,  is  pretty  sure  one  day  to  moral- 
ize over  the  ruins  of  the  British  Empire.  We 
ourselves  moralize  over  the  ruined  empire  of 
Spain,  and  see  clearly  enough  that  the  vast  and 
scattered  dependencies  which  were  her  pride,  and 
which  she  imagined  to  be  the  sources  of  her 
strength,  were  really  draining  away  her  life-blood. 
We  moralize  over  the  effects  of  the  error  com- 
mitted by  Venice  in  leaving  the  true  path,  the 
path  of  commercial  enterprise,  to  indulge  a  terri- 
torial ambition  which  led  to  the  corruption  of 
her  government  and,  by  the  umbrage  it  gave  to 
ether  powers,  brought  on  her  the  League  of  Cam- 
bray.    Yet  we  may  be  sure  that  every  Spaniard 


and  every  Venetian,  in  the  days  of  Spanish  and 
Venetian  empire,  would  have  felt  himself  bound 
by  loyalty  and  patriotism  to  uphold  aggrandize- 
ment and  to  denounce  counsels  of  moderation  as 
a  betrayal  of  the  honor  und  grea  ncss  of  the 
country. 

Palmer.'ston's  Civis  liomanun  is  one  of  many 
indications  that  the  image  of  the  Koman  Empire 
still  vaguely  hovers  before  our  minds.  The 
Roman  Empire  belonged  to  an  age  before  Hu- 
manity, to  an  age  in  which  morality  was  in  the 
germ,  to  an  age  in  which  force  was  the  only  law 
and  the  only  principle  of  organization.  Coming 
when  it  did,  it  formed  a  sort  of  matrix  for 
modern  civilization,  and  thus  served  a  purpose 
which  conquest  can  never  serve  again.  By  unit- 
ing all  the  nations  round  the  Mediterranean  under 
a  common  yoke  it  repressed  war,  the  great 
primeval  obstacle  to  the  progress  of  humanity, 
and  rendered  possible  the  diffusion  of  ideas,  be- 
sides breaking  down  generally  the  barriers  ot 
tribal  isolation.  An  attempt  to  reproduce  it,  or 
anything  like  it,  in  these  days  would  be  an  anach- 
ronism of  the  most  flagrant  kind.  It  sstability 
depended  upon  the  absence  of  any  rival  power, 
when  once  the  conquest  of  the  Mediterranean  na- 
tions had  been  accomplished ;  and,  in  this  respect 
also,  an  imitation  of  it  in  a  world  divided  among 
a  number  of  great  powers  would  be  not  so  much 
unseasonable  as  insane. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  too,  that  the  more 
advanced  civilization  even  of  Rome  herself  was 
less  prone,  if  not  actually  opposed,  to  conquest. 
In  the  golden  age  of  the  empire,  which  com- 
menced with  the  accession  of  Nerva,  though  there 
were  frontier  wars,  and  some  extensions  of  terri- 
tory, as  a  consequence  of  those  wars,  the  spirit 
of  improvement  decidedly  predominated  over 
that  of  aggrandizement,  and  the  Antonines,  if 
they  were  alive  now,  would  probably  be  "  pseudo- 
philanthropists  "  and  "  patriots  of  every  country 
but  their  own." 

The  idea  of  Roman  conquest  in  the  nineteenth 
century  is  equal  in  irrationality  as  well  as  cog- 
nate to  that  extreme  theory  of  hero-worship 
which,  totally  ignoring  historic  progress,  proposes 
to  regenerate  modern  society  by  pounding  it 
with  the  primeval  sledge-hammer  of  Thor.  The 
world  changes,  and  the  methods  proposed  by  the 
worshipers  of  force  for  organizing  what  they 
imagine,  in  spite  of  their  daily  experience,  to  be 
an  anarchy,  would  be  the  most  brutal  of  all 
anarchies  themselves. 

At  all  events,  there  can  be  no  harm  in  asking 
the  advocates  of  a  policy  of  aggrandizement  clear- 


V.,.- 


THE  POL  rev  OF  AGGRAXDIZEMEXr. 


5i; 


of  Spanish  p,nd 

himself  bound 

old  aggrandlzc- 

f  moderation  as 

tea  ness  of  the 

is  one  of  many 
Koman  Empire 
minds.  The 
age  before  Hu- 
ality  was  in  the 
as  the  only  law 
zation.  Coming 
of  matrix  for 
rved  a  purpose 
again.  By  unit- 
iterranean  under 
war,  the  great 
ss  of  humanity, 
on  of  ideas,  be- 
the  barriers  ot 
reproduce  it,  or 
uld  be  an  anach- 
id.  It  sstability 
any  rival  power, 
editerranean  na- 
d,  in  this  respect 
i  divided  among 
be  not  so  much 

,  that  the  more 
ome  herself  was 
ed,  to  conquest, 
ire,  which  com- 
va,  though  there 
ensions  of  terri- 
wars,  the  spirit 
iominated  over 
le  Antonines,  if 
bly  be  "  pseudo- 
•f  every  country 

n  the  nineteenth 
as  well  as  cog- 
)f  hero-worship 
ogress,  proposes 
by  pounding  it 
•  of  Thor.  The 
proposed  by  the 
zing  what  they 
xperience,  to  be 
t  brutal  of  all 

harm  in  asking 
ndizement  clear- 


i 


ly  to  state  tlio  case  with  which  wo  may  fairly  as- 
sume they  are  prepared.  England  will  thon  ad- 
vance her  ca'^les  not  only  with  the  assurance 
tliat  some  of  licr  foiis  would  be  groatly  ^'ratified 
,>t  present,  but  without  misgiving  as  to  the  effect 
(iri  tlie  general  wolt'iire  of  her  peojjle  for  the 
luture. 

Does  conquest  bring  strength  to  England  ? 
Tiiat  is  tiic  most  ol)vious  question,  and  for  the 
oidinary  advociitos  of  aggrandizement  the  most 
important.  To  the  Uonian  it  brouglit  strength, 
because  it  brought  him  botii  tribute  and  military 
contingents  ;  to  the  Spaniard  it  brought  tribute, 
with  which  his  armies  were  paid.  l?ut  in  the 
case  of  England  modern  sentiment  interposes. 
England  draws  from  her  dependencies  no  tribute; 
large  sums  come  from  India,  but  they  come  into 
private  hands.  Sepoys  were  sent  to  Egypt  at  tlio 
time  (if  the  war  with  r.unco,  and  Mr.  Sidney 
Owen,  in  tlie  prefiice  to  his  "Selection  from  the 
Wellesley  Dispatches,"  contends  that,  though  they 
were  not  actually  engaged,  tl:eir  presence  pro- 
duced an  eflect,  and  might  be  regarded  a;!  the 
symbol  of  a  real  addition  to  the  military  power 
of  Englanil.  Hut  rating  this  addition  at  the 
highest,  and  taking  into  consideration  also  any 
instance  of  the  employment  of  negro  regiments 
from  the  West  Indies,  will  it  be  contended  that 
tlie  accession  of  force  derived  by  England  from 
her  dependencies  bears  any  proportion  to  the 
force  expended  by  her  in  acquiring  and  defending 
tliein  ? 

India  must  be  debited  not  only  with  all  that 
has  been  expomled  in  her  acquisition  and  defense, 
but  with  all  that  has  been  expended  in  securing 
access  to  her,  and  notably  with  a  large  portion  of 
the  cost  of  the  Crimean  War.  But  the  expendi- 
ture, whether  of  money  or  of  blood,  is  not  all ; 
the  whole  foreign  policy  of  England  quivers  with 
alarm  for  India.  We  are  being  constantly  drawn 
away  from  that  which  would  otherwise  be  the 
manifest  line  of  our  interest  by  that  besetting 
fear.  Under  its  influence  we  have  sullied  our 
civilization  l)y  an  alliance  with  the  foid  decrepi- 
tude of  Turia'v,  and  made  an  enemy  of  Russia, 
perhaps  the  only  sincere  friend  we  had  in  the 
world. 

The  Boman  Empire,  thouL'h  colossal,  was  ge- 
ographically united,  and  the  jirovinces,  as  time 
went  on,  were  more  or  less  incorporated  with  the 
imperial  state.  The  Bussian  Empire,  though 
equally  colossal,  is  also  geographically  united  ;  it 
annexes  conterminous  regions,  which  are  gradual- 
ly incorporated,  and  will  no  doubt  be  thoroughly 
assimilated  in  the  end.  The  Spanish  Empire  was 
35 


scattered  ;  its  dependencies  were  incapable  of 
incorporation,  mmh  more-  of  assimilation,  and 
the  same  is  the  case  with  ours.  A  line  of  com- 
munication with  the  East  has  to  be  maintained, 
to  the  length  of  which,  and  the  forces  threaten- 
ing it  at  every  point,  attention  has  been  already 
called. 

In  England  the  strength  of  England  lies.  Why 
this  thought  should  be  unwelcome,  it  seems  dilli- 
eult  to  say  ;  at  any  rate,  such  is  the  fact. 

In  the  days  before  free  trade,  monopoly  of 
markets  was  a  very  intelligible  and  solid,  though 
not  a  very  laudable,  aj)panage  of  cmi>ire.  But 
free  trade  has  thrown  open  the  ports  of  the  In- 
dies, East  and  West,  to  all  nations  alike,  and,  if 
England  still  has  the  lion's  share  of  the  trade,  it 
is  not  because  she  is  the  mistress,  but  because 
she  is  the  great  exporting  nation.  The  commer- 
cial handling  of  the  dependencies  by  planters, 
contractors,  and  others  engaged  in  the  internal 
proiluctinn  and  trade,  is,  on  the  other  hand,  an 
advantage  connected  with  poUtical  dominion. 
The  only  drawback  from  it  is  that  English  pro- 
duction in  the  dependencies  may  exclude  British 
imports,  as  in  the  ease  of  the  cotton-manufactures 
of  India,  which  are  supplanting  British  goods  in 
the  Indian  market. 

It  is  said,  and  with  truth,  that  empire  trains 
soldiers  and  administrators.  But  are  they  not, 
for  the  most  part,  soldiers  and  administrators  of 
a  special  kind  ?  Algeria  trained  soldiers,  and 
her  training  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  causes 
of  the  military  disasters  which  befell  France. 
Administrators  generally  end  their  official  lives 
in  the  dependency,  and  the  benefit  of  th"  Indian 
Civil  Service  is  therefore  reaped  more  by  the  in- 
dividual Englishmen  employed  in  it  and  their 
families  than  by  the  country,  except  in  so  far  as 
the  appointments  may  act  as  prizes  in  stimulat- 
ing education.  Even  were  it  otherwise,  bureau- 
cracy, intensified  by  excluslveness  of  race,  and  by 
severance  from  English  society  and  opinion,  would 
scarcely  be  a  good  school  for  the  service  of  a  free 
nation.  The  author  of  "  The  Abode  of  Snow  " 
seems  to  be  an  acute  observer,  and  he  is  certain- 
ly not  indifferent  to  the  glory  of  British  dominion, 
or  opposed  to  the  extension  of  British  influence. 
In  a  passage  on  official  character  in  India,  which, 
as  its  tenor  is  mixed,  it  may  be  fiiir  to  append  in 
a  note,  he  draws  a  strong,  and  what  seems  a 
probably  just,  distinction  between  the  effect  of 
Inilia  on  superior  minds,  or  those  immediately 
under  their  influence,  and  its  effect  on  the  mind 
of  the  ordinary  official.  His  general  estimate 
may  be  somewhat  adverse,  and  it  may  be  fairly 


546 


THE  POPULAR  SCIEXCE  MOXTHLY.— SUPPLE M EXT. 


I 


iiift  perhaps  by  an  appeal  to  the  net  results  of 
Indian  administration/  But  he  brings  certain 
peeuliarities,  and  tlic  circumstanees  which  pro- 
duce them,  distinctly  under  our  view.' 

Wo  have  renounced  for  tlie  present  purpose 


•  "Socli'ty  everywhere  in  India  labors  under  very  great 
disadvantages,  and  varies  very  much  aceording  to  tho 
character  of  its  evcr-clianging  leaders.  Sir  Ktnerwon  Ten- 
nent  has  oliserved  that  it  is, '  unhappily,  the  tendency  of 
sniidl  sections  of  society  to  decompose  when  separated 
from  tho  great  vital  mass,  as  pools  stairnate  and  putrefy 
when  cut  otf  from  tho  invigorating  How  of  tlie  sea;'  and 
be  adds  tliat  the  process  is  variable,  so  that  a  colonial  so- 
ciety which  is  repulsive  to-day  may  bo  attractive  to-mor- 
row, or  a  contrary  change  may  take  place  with  one  or  two 
departures  or  new  arrivals.  The  same  holds  go.,d  in  India; 
and  thouL'h  Indian  society  can  boast  of  some  superiority 
to  colonial  (a  superiority  which  Is  amusingly  asserted  on 
board  mail-steamers),  it  has  very  great  defects  of  its  own, 
and  in  certain  circumstances  degenerates  into  the  intoli;r- 
able.  One  tendency  of  life  in  India  is  to  creat(!  an  iuunenso 
amount  of  conceit,  and  to  make  men  assume  airs  of  su- 
periority, not  because  of  any  superiority  of  mind  or  char- 
acter, or  on  account  of  great  services  rendered  to  the 
state,  but  simply  because  long  residence  in  the  country, 
or  in  some  particular  district  of  it,  has  given  them  high 
appointments,  or  tho  advantage  as  regards  local  knowl- 
edge. Then,  tliough  mihtary  society  has  many  good 
points,  *  discipline  must  be  observed,'  and  It  was  in  per- 
fect good  faith,  and  expressing  his  own  opinion  as  well  as 
that  whii-h  he  believed  to  bo  generally  entertained,  that  an 
old  Indian  remarked  to  me,  '  We  don't  think  mucli  of  any 
one's  opinions  hero  until  ho  is  a  lieutenant-colonel  at 
least.'  Of  course,  in  all  countries  opinions  are  often  meas- 
ured by  the  position  of  tho  spokesman,  but  in  Europe  that 
is  not  so  much  tho  case  as  in  India,  and  in  our  happier 
climos  it  is  easy  to  slum  the  society  of  snobs,  wliether 
social  or  intellectual,  without  becoming  a  social  pariah. 
This  social  tendency  is  not  corrected,  but  developed  rather 
than  otherwise,  by  a  close  bureaucracy,  such  as  the  Indian 
Ci\1l  Service— and  there  is  no  other  element  in  the  com- 
munity sufflciently  strong  to  coiTcct  it— while  it  is  almost 
,iu8tified  by  tho  extraordinary  effect  India  has  in  rapidly 
producing  intense  conceit  and  insuffernblo  presumption 
among  Europeans  of  a  low  order  of  mind  and  character, 
whatever  classes  of  tho  community  they  may  belong  to. 
Nothing  struck  mo  more  in  that  country  than  the  contrast 
between  its  elevating  and  even  ennobling  etfocts  on  those 
Europeans  whose  minds  were  abo.e  a  oertain  level,  and  its 
exactly  contrary  effects  on  almo  *t  all  those  who  were  bo- 
low  that  level.  What.  then.  Indian  society  has  specially 
to  struggle  against  are  two  apparently  oi>posite  tendencies, 
a  slavish  respect  for  more  position,  and  for  exceptional 
power  and  knowledge  in  particul.ir  directions;  and,  on  tho 
other  hand,  excessive  individual  conceit  and  presumption. 
Rut  those  evil  tendencies  (which,  curiously  enough,  be- 
long also  to  the  Indian  native  character)  are  not  opposed 
in  any  such  way  as  to  counteract  each  other.  On  tho 
contrary,  they  are  apt  to  foster  and  inflame  each  other, 
because  the  old  Indi.an  justly  sees  that  ho  has  opposed  to 
him  an  immenso  deal  of  ignorant  prestimption,  which 
ought  to  be  severely  repressed,  while  the  democrat  and 
the  grilHn  instinctively  feel  that  thoy  are  oppressed  by  an 
amount  of  tryrannlcal  old-fogyism  which  would  not  bo 
allowed  to  exist  in  anj'  other  country." — ("  Abode  of 
Snow,"  by  Andrew  Wilson,  p.  56.) 


the  consideration  of  morality,  but  we  must  bo 
allowed  to  consider  the  influence  of  empire  on 
the  political  cliaracter  of  tlic  imperial  country. 
Our  free  institutions  witli  tlie  character  on  which 
they  rest,  and  the  corruption  of  which  they  wouL 
not  survive,  are  supposed,  apart  from  sentiment, 
to  be  objects  of  paramount  importance.  The  ad- 
dition of  an  uncon.-ititutional  title  to  tlie  constitu- 
tional titles  of  the  British  soverei}:n  seems  aptly 
to  symbolize  a  tendency  already  perceptible,  and 
which  that  measure  was  perhaps  j)artly  intended 
to  assist.  Dependencies,  even  under  the  mildest 
system,  must  be  governed  on  principles  wholly 
different  from  these  of  a  constitutional  polity,  and, 
though  superior  minds  may  be  able  to  keep  the 
distinction  between  the  two  spheres  always  be- 
fore them,  and  to  don  tho  despot  without  doffing 
tho  citizen,  in  ordinary  minds  the  lines  of  aepa- 
rate  allegiance  will  become  more  or  less  blurred 
and  the  indefeasible  sanctity  of  freedom  will  be 
lost.  The  effect  will  bo  intensified  by  every  re- 
bellion which  breaks  out  in  a  dependency,  and, 
after  exciting  the  passions  of  the  imperial  nation, 
is  quenched  in  servile  blood.  It  was  for  this  rea- 
son that  many  people  who  were  by  no  means 
admirers  of  the  East  India  Company  deprecated 
its  abolition,  and  the  political  identification  of 
India  with  England  which  necessarily  ensued. 
The  company  being  under  the  control  of  the 
Briti.sh  Government,  the  responsibility  under  the 
old  system  was  the  same,  but  the  danger  of  po- 
litical contagion  was  not  so  great. 

Anglo-Indians,  as  a  body,  return  rich  ;  thoy 
must  therefore  have  some  political  influence,  and 
it  would  be  interesting  to  know  what  their  politi- 
cal tendencies  are,  and  what  sort  of  citizens  In- 
dia scuds  back  to  England.  In  former  days,  be- 
fore the  dependencies  were  controlled,  both  East 
Indian  nabobs  and  West  Indian  planters  avenged 
the  oppressed  native  upon  the  dominant  race  by 
playing  a  leading  part  in  the  corruption  of  the 
English  Parliament.  It  was  on  the  East  India 
Bill  and  with  the  support  of  the  nabobs  that 
George  III.  gaim  d  tho  victory  over  the  constitu- 
tion which  established  his  ascendency,  and  en- 
abled him  to  bring  a  train  of  calamities  on  the 
country. 

But  the  reflex  influence  may  go  deeper  still  and 
affect  not  only  those  sentiments  which  lie  at  the 
root  of  political  liberty,  but  those  which  lie  at 
the  root  of  all  civilization.  A  conqueror  neces- 
sarily persuades  himself  that  his  yoke  is  righteous, 
that  submission  to  it  is  loyalty,  that  insurrection 
against  it  is  the  worst  of  treasons.  He  forgets 
that,  as  Pym  said  when  Strafford  pleaded  that 


I 


.  *. .  ^ 


(T. 


THE  POLICY  OF  AGGRANDIZEMEXT. 


a4t 


but  we  must  be 
ice  of  empire  on 
iiipi'iiiil  country, 
anu'tcr  on  which 
whicli  they  woul^ 
from  sentiment, 
irtancc.  The  nd- 
e  to  tlie  constitu- 
cign  seems  nptly 

■  perceptible,  luid 
s  jtartly  intended 
inder  the  mildest 
principles  wholly 
[tional  polity,  and, 
able  to  keep  the 
[)horcs  always  be- 
)t  without  doffing 
he  lines  of  scpa- 
e  or  less  blurred 
f  freedom  will  be 
ified  by  every  re- 
dependency,  and, 

le  imperial  nation, 
t  was  for  this  rea- 
ere  by  no  means 
mpany  deprecated 
I  identification  of 
ecessarily  ensued. 
ic  control  of  the 
isibiiity  under  the 
the  danger  of  po- 
-at. 

return  rich  ;  they 
ical  influence,  and 
1  what  their  politi- 
ort  of  citizens  In- 
n  former  days,  be- 
itrolled,  both  East 
n  planters  avenged 
dominant  race  by 
corruption  of  the 
on  the  East  India 

■  the  nabobs  that 
over  the  constitu- 
^cendency,  and  en- 
'  calamities  on  the 

'  go  deeper  still  and 
its  which  lie  at  the 
those  which  lie  at 
A.  conqueror  neces- 
is  yoke  is  righteous, 
;y,  that  insurrection 
easons.  He  forgets 
ifford  pleaded  that 


I 


1 


Ireland  was  a  conrpicrcil  country  and  you  might 
do  what  you  pleased  in  it:  "  If  the  king,  by  the 
riirht  of  a  conciueror,  gives  laws  to  his  people, 
the  people  mu<t  by  the  same  reason  be  restored 
I.)  the  riglit  of  the  eoruiuered  to  recover  their 
liberty  If  they  can."  The  Scotch  adore  Wallace, 
but  if  they  caught  a  'Wallace  in  India  thoy  would 
blow  him  away  from  a  gun.  This  inversion  of 
morality  liy  the  conf(uoror  in  his  own  favor,  with 
the  effect  which  it  produces  on  his  character,  is 
one  of  the  ugliest  features  of  conquest.  Tlie 
Sepoy  w;is  not  a  p;itriot,  it  is  true,  but  he  was 
an  alien,  and  more  tlian  an  alien,  in  race  and  in 
religion  ;  he  was  a  mercenary  serving  for  notli- 
ing  hut  hid  pay ;  to  lodk  for  love  and  loyalty  at  his 
hands  was  looking  for  grapes  on  thistles  ;  there 
could  be  no  security  for  his  fidelity  liut  a  vigilance 
wliich  had  been  relaxed,  and  precautions  which 
liad  been  neglected.  Ilis  caste — that  is,  his  social 
ami  religious  existence — had  been  threatened,  as 
i\e  imagined,  by  the  greased  cartridges.  He  had 
further  been  worked  upon  bv  the  fiendish  -running 
of  Nana  Sahib,  who  had  himself,  it  appears,  been 
turned  from  a  sycophant  into  a  malignant  enemy 
by  unskillful  handling.  The  fren/.y  into  which 
the  S  poys  burst  was  of  the  sort  to  which  all 
barbarians  are  liable,  and  for  which  you  must  be 
prepared  if  you  choose  to  take  barbarians  into 
your  service.  The  wholesale  slaughter  of  these 
wretched  men,  in  cold  blood,  when  they  had 
laid  down  their  arms,  and  in  some  cases  when 
they  had  apparently  been  guilty  of  little  more 
than  being  carried  away  like  animals  by  a  stam- 
pede, may  have  been  a  political  necessity  of  con- 
quest, but  it  will  never  be  described  by  impartial 
history  as  an  act  of  moral  justice,  and  participa- 
tion in  it  antl  in  tlie  hideous  scenes  of  that  pe- 
riod generally  could  hardly  fail  to  affect  the  char- 
acter of  the  Englishmen  engaged.  The  work  of 
Dr.  Russell  is  well  known.  Lieutenant  Majendie's 
"  Up  among  the  Pandies  "  is  not  so  well  known, 
but  it  is  a  vivid,  simple,  and  apparently  truthful 
photograph  of  scenes  which  that  officer  himself 
witnessed.     We  give  a  couple  of  extracts  below,' 

'  '"  I  have  before  iulvertod  to  the  hardness  of  heart 
which  in  somo  cases  was  shown  liy  our  men,  and  to  tho 
careless  and  callous  indifference  with  wliich  they  took 
away  human  life ;  and  I  will  here  relate  one  of  several  in- 
stances which  came  under  my  notice  in  illustration  of  this 
fact.  After  wo  had  oecupied  the  Iron  I5ridso  for  some 
days,  and  when  we  supposed  that  the  houses  in  the  neigh- 
borhood were  quite  clear  of  the  enemy,  wc  were  aston- 
ished one  evoninii  by  hearing  a  shot  in  one  of  tho  many 
buildings  which  wo  occupied,  and,  directly  after,  somo  of 
tho  soldiers  rushing  in  dragged  out  a  decrepit  old  man, 
severely  wounded  in  the  thigh.  It  seems  that  the  sentry, 
having  heard  somebody  moving  about  the  house,  had 


and  the  reader  will  probably  agree  with  Lieuten- 
ant Majendie  that,  let  the  guilt  of  the  sufferers 
bo  what  it  would,  the  work  of  the  executioner-> 
must  have  bred  in  tliein  "  hardness  of  lu'art  "  and 
"  callous  inditt'erencc  to  taking  human  life."  Sup- 
challenged,  and,  recoiving  no  Bnswor,  flrod,  and  hit  the 
poor  old  wretch  in  (piestion  in  the  leg.  lie  was  brought 
out.  and  soou  surrounded  by  a  noisy,  ga[iiiig  crowd  of 
HoldlHfS,  who  clamored  loudly  for  hi.s  imuiedlato  execu- 
tion, expressing  themselves  In  language  more  remarkable 
by  its  vigor  than  either  its  elegance  or  its  huinanitv. 
"Ave  his  nut  otf,"  said  one;  'Hang  the  brute,"  cried  mi- 
other  ;  '  Put  him  out  of  mess,'  said  a  third  ;  '  tiive  him  . 
Cawnporo  dinner'  (six  inches  of  steel),  cried  a  fourtb  , 
but  tho  burden  of  all  their  cries  was  the  same,  and  they 
meant  death.  The  only  person  in  the  group  who  ap- 
peared unmoved  and  iuditVerent  to  what  was  uoing  on  was 
he  who  certainly  had  every  right  to  be  the  most  interest- 
ed. I  mean  the  old  man  hiinself,  whose  stoicism  one  could 
not  but  admire.  Ho  must  have  read  his  fate  u  hundred 
times  over  in  the  angry  gestures  and  looks  of  his  captors, 
but  never  once  did  he  open  his  lips  to  supplicate  for  mer- 
cy, or  betray  either  ag'tatiou  or  emotion,  giving  one  the 
idea  of  a  man  bored  by  the  noise  and  the  i)roceedings 
generally,  but  not  otherwise  affected.  His  was  a  case 
which  h.ardly  demanded  a  long  or  elaborate  trial.  Ho  was 
a  native— ho  could  give  no  account  of  himself— he  had 
been  found  prowling  about  our  position  at  night ;  stealth- 
ily moving  among  houses,  every  one  of  which  contained 
a  ([uantity  of  gunpowder,  and  where,  for  aught  we  knew, 
and  as  was  more  than  probable,  mines  may  have  existed, 
which  a  spark  dropped  from  his  hand  would  have  Ignited 
— or  he  was  a  spy,  or — but  what  need  of  more?  In  this 
time  of  stern  and  summary  justice  (?)  such  evidence  was 
more  than  ample ;  ho  was  given  over  to  two  men.  who 
received  orders  to  '  destroy  him '  (tho  expression  usually 
emploj-ed  on  those  occasions,  and  implying  in  Itself  how 
dreadfully  common  such  executions  had  become),  and 
they  led  him  away.  This  point  being  ecttlod,  the  soldiers 
returned  to  their  games  of  cards  and  their  jiipes,  and 
seemed  to  feel  no  further  interest  in  the  matter,  except 
when  tho  two  executioners  returned,  and  one  of  their  com- 
rades carelessly  asked,  '  Well,  Bill,  what  did  yer  do  to 
him  ?  '  '  Oh.'  said  the  man  as  he  wijicd  the  blood  off  an 
old  tidwar,  with  an  air  of  cool  and  horrible  inditTerence 
which  no  words  cm  convey—'  oh,  sliced  his  'ed  otf,'  resum- 
ing his  rubber,  and  dropping  the  subject  much  a.s  a  man 
might  who  had  drowned  a  litter  of  puppies"  (page  1.-,. 
This  old  man,  it  will  bo  observed,  was  not  a  Sepoy,  ho  was 
only  a  native,  and  not  tho  slightest  .attenipt  appears  to 
have  been  made  to  verify  tho  suspicion  as  to  a  mine  of 
gunpowder.  In  the  next  case  tho  victim  was  a  Sepoy, 
taken  in  a  skirmish,  in  which  a  British  otiicer  of  a  Sikh 
regiment  had  fallen : 

"  Infuriated  beyond  measure  by  the  death  of  their  offi- 
cer, the  Sikhs  (assisted,  I  regret  to  say,  by  some  English- 
men) proceeded  to  take  their  revenge  on  this  one  wretch- 
ed man.  Seizing  him  by  the  two  legs,  tliey  attempted  to 
tear  him  in  tu-o.  Failing  in  this,  they  dragged  him 
along  by  the  legs,  stabbing  him  in  the  face  with  their 
bayonets  as  they  went.  I  could  see  the  \ioor  wi'eteh  writh- 
ing as  the  blows  fell  upon  him,  and  could  hear  his  moans 
as  his  captors  dug  the  sharp  bayonets  into  his  laceriited 
and  trampled  body,  while  his  blood,  trickling  down,  dyed 
the  white  sand  over  which  he  was  being  dragg'^d.  But 
tho  worst  was  yet  to  come ;  while  still  alive,  though  faint 


:  I 


> 


;  I' 


I' 


I 


i 


548 


THE  PoPULAn  SCIENCE  MOXTULV.—SrPPLEMEXT. 


poso  these  rebfls  had  l)ccn  natives  of  Aljjjcna, 
aiiJ  the  executioners  French  Zoimvcs,  Hhould  wo 
not  imve  been  eoiilirnn'il  in  tiie  belief  that  Alge- 
riu  WHS  u  (ioiibtfui  guin  to  1-' ranee  'i 

Tiie  Sepovs  were  mutineers.  Hut  tlic  people 
ot  Oiiile  were  not  mutineers.  Tiiey  wire  fi;,'ht- 
iiij;,  most  unwisely,  no  doubt,  but  not  uiiiiaturally, 
lor  their  native  dynasty.  Their  crime  cannot  be 
said  to  liave  been  worse  than  that  of  the  Scotch 
Jacobites,  who  are  now  objects  of  historic  sym- 
pathy ;  yet  they  were  incluiled  in  the  nndiscrim- 
inatiii!^  Hlau<^hter. 

Lord  Elgin  was  above  the  suspicion  of  pseu- 
do-philanthropy, or  of  any  weutiiiess  or  illusion 
which  could  interfere  with  a  rational  pursuit  of 
British  interests.  For  that  reason  we  shall  make 
u  free  use  of  his  testimony,  as  recorded  in  his 
"Letters  and  Diary."  Visitin*,'  India,  on  his 
way  to  China,  at  the  time  of  the  mutiny,  he  came  ' 
into  contact  with  the  .spirit  of  sanguinary  terror-  | 
ism  evoked  among  the  dominant  race  ;  and  the 
impression  which  it  made  upon  him  is  not  doubt- 
ful:  i 

^^  Aiir/iist  21.^/. — It  is  a  terrible  business,  how- 
ever, this  living  among  inferior  races.     I  have  sel- 
dom from  man  or  woman  since  I  cume  to  the  East  ! 
heard  a  sentence  which  was  reconcilable  with  the  : 
hypothesis  that  Christianity  had  ever  come  into 
the  world.    Detestation,  contempt,  ferocity,  ven-  : 
geance,  whether  Chinamen  or  Indians  be  the  ob-  ' 
ioct.     There  are  some  three  or  four  hundred  ser- 
vants in  this  house.     When  one  first  i>asses  by  . 
their  salaamimr,  one  feels  a  little  awkward.     But 
the  feelinLf  soon  wears  oft',  and  one  moves  among 
them  with  perfect  inditferenco,  treating  them,  not 
as  dogp,  >)ccause  in  that  case  one  would  whistle  to 
tlum  and  pat  them,  but  as  machines  Avith  which 
one  can  have  no  communion  or  sympathy.     Of 
course,  those  who  can  speak  the   language  are 
somewhat  more  en  rapport  with  the  natives ;  but 
very  slii^htly  so  I  take  it.     When  the  passions  of 
fear  and  hatred  are  ingrafted  on  this  indifference, 
the  result  is  friirhtful  :  an  absolute  callousness  to 
the  sufferings  of  the   object=>  of  those   passions, 
which  must  be  witnessed  to  be  understood  and 
believed. 

and  fcohio  from  his  many  wnunds,  ho  was  (lolibor.atfly 
pl.iced  upon  a  sniall  pile  of  dry  8ti<'ks,  which  had  been 
improvised  for  the  purposi;.  and  tliore  held  down,  in  spite 
of  his  dyins  strns^Tles,  which,  bccomins;  weaker  and  more 
feeble  every  moment,  wore,  from  their  verv  faintness  and 
futile  desperation,  cruel  to  behold.  Once,  diirins:  this 
friprhtful  operation,  the  wretched  victim,  maddened  by 
pain,  manageit  to  break  a ....y  from  his  tonnenters,  and, 
already  horribly  burnt,  fled  a  short  distance,  but  ho  was 
immediately  broiicht  back  and  placed  upon  the  fire,  and 
there  held  till  life  was  extinct."  Englishmen  were  look- 
injr  on  all  the  time ! 


Aiiijuiit   22il. — 


tells   nu;  that  yester- 


day, nt  dinner,  the  fact  that  (iovernment  had  re- 
movcil  some  commissioners  who,  not  content  with 
hanging  all  the  rebels  they  could  lay  tlu'ir  hainls 
on,  had  been  insulting  them  by  destroying  their 
caste,  telling  them  that  after  death  th'.'y  shotild  be 
cast  to  dogs  to  be  devoured,  etc.,  was  nu'iitioned. 
A  ri^vft'end  gentleman  could  not  understand  the 
coiuluct  of  Government ;  c(Uild  not  see  that  tiiero 
was  any  impropriety  in  torturing  men's  houIs  ; 
seemed  to  think  that  a  gootl  deal  might  be  said 
for  torturing  their  bodies  as  well.  These  are  your 
teachers,  ()  Israel !  Imagine  what  the  pupils  be- 
come under  such  leading  1"  (page  lit!)). 

Subsetiucntly,  its  governor-general,  Lord  Elgin 
had  the  opportunity  of  lea'-ning  more  of  these 
events  from  sources  which  he  deemed  authentic: 

"  The  feeling  of  the  natives  of  India  toward 
Canning  was  in  some  measure  duo  to  a  similar 
cause.  The  clamor  for  blood  and  indiscrimimito 
vengeance  which  raged  around  him,  and  the  abuse 
poured  upon  him  because  ho  would  not  listen  to 
it,  imparted  in  their  eyes  to  acts  whieh  carried 
justice  to  the  very  verge  of  severity  the  grace  of 
clemency.  I  could  give  you  plenty  of  proofs  of 
this.  .  .  .  The  following  sentences  occur  in  a  let- 
ter written  from  Delhi  during  our  recent  panic  by 
an  officer:  .  .  .  'The  luitive  force  here  is  much  too 
small  to  be  a  source  of  anxiety,  and,  uidess  they 
take  the  initiative,  it  is  my  ojiinion  that  there  can 
bo  no  important  rising.  The  Mussulmans  of  Del- 
hi are  a  contemptible  race.  Fanatics  are  very  rare 
on  this  side  of  the  Sutlej.  The  terrors  of  that 
period  when  every  man  who  had  two  enemies  was 
sure  to  swing  are  not  forgotten.  The  people  de- 
clare that  the  work  of  Nadir  Shah  was  as  nothing 
to  it.  Ills  executions  were  completed  in  twelve 
hours.  But,  for  months  after  the  last  fall  of  Delhi, 
no  one  was  sure  of  his  own  lite  or  that  of  the  being 
dearest  to  him  for  an  hour.' " 

We  might  fancy  ourselves  reading  an  account 
of  the  reign  of  terror  in  Ireland  after  the  rising 
in  '98.  That  all  this  is  not  English,  that  it  is  ut- 
terly at  variance  with  the  general  character  of 
the  English'people,  is  certain ;  every  candid  crit- 
ic of  English  society  would  say  so ;  but  no  char- 
acter is  independent  of  circumstance,  and  if  wc 
choose  to  put  ourselves  into  the  circumstances 
of  foreign  conquerors,  into  the  place  of  Nadir 
Shahs,  the  natural  consequences  will  ensue.  There 
is  nothing  to  save  us  from  them,  any  more  than 
there  was  to  save  the  Spanish  conquerors  of  Mex- 
ico. From  Egypt  we  shall  infallibly  be  drawn  on 
to  Abyssinia;  and  in  Abyssinia,  if  not  in  Egypt, 
there  is  likely  to  be  just  as  bloody  work  as  there 

[  has  been  in  Kindostan. 

I        Increased  facilities  of  communication  and  rep- 


I 


4 


f      ' 


lilt;  tlint  yestor- 
crniiunt  luul  re- 

liot  t'l'Iltl'Ilt  witli 

lay  tlu'ir  luiiuls 
ilrstriiyiiifr  tlicir 
1  tlivy  sliipiilil  Ill- 
was  iDi'iitionc'd. 
t  uiulcrstaml  tliu 
ot  see  tliut  tlioro 
li,'  men's  souls ; 
tl  nii^lit  bu  said 

Tlifse  are  your 
it  tlic  pui)ilrt  1)0- 

I'.tit). 

noral,  Lord  Eljfiu 
s,  more  of  these 
eiiicd  authentic : 

of  India  toward 
duo  to  ft  siiiiihir 
id  iiKliscriminate 
im,  and  the  abuse 
)uld  not  listen  to 
cts  whieh  carried 
I'rity  the  grace  of 
enty  of  proofs  of 
CCS  occur  in  a  let- 
ir  recent  panic  by 
e  liere  is  much  too 
,  and,  unless  they 
ion  that  there  can 
ussulmans  of  Del- 
laties  are  very  rare 
he  terrors  of  that 
1  two  enemies  was 
.  The  people  de- 
ah  was  as  nothing 
npleted  in  twelve 
3  last  fall  of  Delhi, 
ir  that  of  the  being 

eadlng  an  account 
nd  after  the  rising 
glish,  that  it  is  ut- 
icral  character  of 
every  candid  crit- 
|r  so ;  but  no  char- 
istancc,  and  if  wc 
the  circumstances 
le  place  of  Nadir 
s  will  ensue.  There 
em,  any  more  than 
conquerors  of  Mex- 
lUibly  be  drawn  on 
a,  if  not  in  Egypt, 
)ody  work  as  there 

iiunication  and  rep- 


I 


THE  POLICY  OF  AGGRAXDIZIJMEXT. 


)4!) 


rc:*cntuti(m  now  bring  scenes  enacted  in  a  distant 
depeiidt  n(  \  completely  home  to  the  mimls  of  the 
people  in  the  imperial  country,  to  as  closely  to 
identify  them  witii  all  that  they  do  not  repudiate 
and  condemn.  And  when  did  the  people  of  an 
imperial  country  heartily  repudiate  and  effectual- 
ly condemn  acts  necessary,  or  plausiMy  alleged 
to  be  noee^Hury,  to  the  maintenance  of  their  own 
<lominion  V 

In  the  Jainniea  case  we  had  a  taste  of  the 
spirit  which  famiiiaiity  with  t-laii^hti  r  in  the  case 
ol  the  Indian  rebels  had  evokeil.  .VU  retneml)er 
how  Cliiet'-Justiee  Cockburn  cluirgi  d  in  favoi'  of 
outraged  justice  and  humanity;  how  unavailing 
were  hisword.s;  what  homage  was  oHt'ied,  and 
by  what  lips,  to  terrorism  and  murder;  what  Aw- 
ister  principles  were  propounded,  and  what  omin- 
ous sentiments  were  expressed,  not  witli  reference 
to  dependencies  alone. 

Less  serious,  but  still  worthy  of  notice,  is  the 
eorriipting  effect  of  the  pageantry,  the  servility, 
the  sultanisin,  of  which  dependencies  are  the  li- 
censed sphere.  Through  the  newspaper  accounts 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales's  visit  to  India  lireatlied 
something  very  like  tlie  spirit  of  a  I5y/antine 
court.  Wise  men  laugii ;  but  the  crowd  are  im- 
pressed, and  they  do  not  say  to  themselves, 
"This  is  only  for  llindostan  or  Egypt."  If  ever 
an  attempt  is  made  to  revive  anytliing  like  "a 
real  throne"  in  this  country  (and  the  idea  is  per- 
haps not  so  remote  from  possif)ility  as  would  be 
generally  imagined),  it  will  derive  any  chance  of 
sueces.i  it  may  have  in  some  measure  from  the 
influence  of  the  Indian  Empire. 

Therefore,  Ix'fore  enthusiastic  friends  of  Eng- 
land— and  surely  great  enthusiasm  may  be  preili- 
cated  of  iliose  who  can  dwell  with  complacency 
on  the  idea  of  handing  over  not  only  the  East 
but  all  Europe  to  the  reactionary  aristocracy  of 
this  country — before  enthusiastic  friends  of  Eng- 
land, we  say,  determine  to  give  her  Egypt,  on 
the  ground  that  she  is  the  best  representative  of 
the  principles  of  constitutional  liberty,  they  ought 
to  consider  whether  she  is  likely  to  continue  the 
best  representative;  of  those  principles  when  she 
has  been  charged  with  the  functions  of  unconsti- 
tutional government  in  all  parts  of  the  globe.  No 
political  character  could  be  stronger  or  more 
confirmed  than  that  of  the  Roman,  yet  by  empire 
it  was  radically  changed. 

The  spirit  of  enterprise,  no  doubt,  is  displayed 
and  fostered  by  conquest.  Far  be  it  from  us  to 
depreciate  its  value  or  to  disparage  the  pride 
which  its  achievements  excite  in  the  nation.  But 
it  may  be  directed   to  more  objects  than  one. 


Cook,  Franklin,  and  Livinpstoni',  showed  enter- 
prise as  well  as  the  conquerors  of  tin'  Inilian 
Empire. 

It  is  the  fashion  to  mccum'  the  Americans  of 
tinliihited  voracity,  but  they  seem  really  to  be 
about  the  onl,\  '  "Ople  that  look  at  a  thing  before 
they  swallow  :  St.  Domingo,  from  its  natural 
wealth  and  eapabilitle.-',  was  a  most  tempting 
morsel,  ami  it  was  almost  forced  down  tin-  thiont 
of  the  nation  by  Tresident  (Jrant,  wlio  was  tluii 
in  an  ambitious  mood.  Hut  it  was  steadfastly  re- 
jected on  tin  ground  that,  though  commercially 
rich,  it  was  |iolitically  unwholesome,  and  would 
import  a  bad  element  into  the  Legislature  of  the 
United  States. 

We  have  spoken,  so  far,  of  the  interest  of  the 
conqueror,  or  the  dominant  race.  lint  modern 
sentiment  demands  that  the  interest  of  the  con- 
quered, or  the  subject  race,  shall  also  be  consid- 
ered, and  we  may  .-ay  with  truth  that  no  imperial 
country  has  ever  acknowledged  this  obligation  so 
fully  as  England. 

To  India,  English  rule  has  given  peace,  saving 
our  own  wars  and  mutinies;  a  regular  and  e(|ui- 
tablc  though  costly  administration  ;  greatly  in- 
creased security  for  life  and  property  ;  railroads  ; 
the  abolition  of  dark  and  cruel  superstitions,  such 
as  Suttee  and  Thuggee.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  are  consecpiences  which  attend  even  the 
most  humane  of  conquests,  and,  when  one  nation 
undertakes  to  provide  hapi)iness  for  another  by 
overruling  the  natural  course  of  things,  measures 
conceived  in  the  most  beneficial  spirit  are  apt  to 
work  out  in  unexpected  ways,  and  to  lead  to 
mixed  results. 

Conquest  must  always  extinguish  the  military 
spirit  of  the  conquered  and  tiieir  power  of  self- 
defense.  Roman  conquest  did  this  systemati- 
cally, and,  when  the  legions  withdrew,  bands  of 
undisciplined  though  hardy  barbarians  stalked 
unresisted  through  the  helpless  provinces  of  the 
empire.  British  conquest  has  done  the  same 
tiling,  though  not  on  system,  and  populations 
which  we  found  warlike  are  now  sheep,  and  would 
be  the  prey  of  the  first  wolf  that  descended 
on  them,  if  British  protection  were  withdrawn. 
But  conquest  must  also  kill  all  ii,'.'".ve  germs 
of  political  life  and  all  power  of  p.  "tieal  self- 
organization.  It  is,  of  course,  difh^ult  to  say 
what  Nature  would  have  produced,  had  India 
been  left  politically  to  itself,  or  rather  had  it 
been  acted  on  by  European  influence  only  as 
Japan  has  been,  not  in  the  way  of  foreign  domin- 
ion. Regarded  from  the  Indian  point  of  view, 
Akbar  was  probably  not  less  beneficent  than  a 


550 


THE  POPULAR  SCIEFCE  MOXTHLY.-SUPPLEMEXT. 


s  J 


(*  i 


1'  I 


viceroy,  and  whatever  improvements  he  miglit 
effect  would  be  more  likely  to  adhere  to  the  soil. 
In  the  case  of  Egypt,  it  is  true,  there  would,  so 
far  as  the  mass  of  the  natives  arc  concerned,  be 
little  in  the  way  of  military,  and  nothing  in  the 
way  of  political,  life  to  extinguish.  We  should 
only  render  impossible  that  which  might  other- 
wise bo  possible,  the  gradual  growth,  under  an 
independent  government,  of  an  Egyi)tian  nation. 

To  associate  the  conquerid  with  the  con- 
queror in  the  work  of  Indian  government,  and 
thus  in  time  train  India  to  self-rule,  is  a  policy, 
the  very  conception  of  which  attests  the  com- 
paratively beneticent  spirit  of  British  conquest. 
But  before  it  can  be  really  carried  into  effect, 
not  only  must  great  political  ditficulties  be  over- 
come, but  a  bridge  must  be  thrown  over  a  social 
gulf,  so  wide  as  to  be  apparently  impassable. 
Ucal  participation  in  government  implies  political 
equality  between  the  races,  and  political  equality 
cannot  exist  between  those  who  are  socially  far 
apart.  The  higher  and  more  sympathetic  minds 
may  be  able  to  surmount  the  prejudice  of  race, 
and  to  act  with  a  Hindoo  as  cordially  as  with  an 
Englishman.  But  this  cannot  be  expected  of  the 
ordinary  officials  of  the  dominant  nation,  much 
less  of  the  lower  class  of  Europeans  and  the 
common  soldier.  "\Vc  have  heard  Lord  Elgin  oi 
the  relations  between  the  races.  In  nnother  pas- 
sage (p.  4 IV),  speakinf^  of  a  murder  committed  by 
a  European  on  a  native,  he  says  that,  though  not 
deliberate,  it  had  a  feature  just  as  bad,  and  char- 
acteristic of  homicides  committed  by  Europeans 
on  natives,  inasmuch  as  it  was  done  "  in  wanton 
recklessness,  almost  without  provocation,  under 
an  impulse  which  would  have  been  resisted  if  the 
life  of  the  native  had  been  estimated  at  the  value 
of  that  of  a  dog."  He  goes  on  to  mention  an- 
other case,  in  which  a  native  had  been  kicked  to 
death  for  milking  a  goat  which  was  alleged  not 
to  belong  to  him,  and  says  that  the  'ocal  paper, 
instead  of  pitying  the  victim  or  his  ftimily,  only 
complained  of  the  hardship  to  which  the  homi- 
cide  was  subjected  by  having  to  go  to  Calcutta 
to  answer  for  his  conduct  in  hot  weather.  As- 
suredly, to  make  these  two  elements  work  to- 
gether politically  would  be  no  easy  matter.  The 
gulf  between  the  Hindoo  and  the  European  is  no 
doubt  partly  caused  by  the  strange  primeval 
mystery  of  Hindoo  nature.  In  the  >ise  of  the 
Egyptian  Fellah  there  would  be  no  groat  obstacle 
of  this  kind  ;  but  the  Fellah  would  probably  be  an 
object  of  still  greater  contempt  than  the  Hindoo. 

From  war  we  h  ive  saved  Iiidi  >.     But  what  if 
in  doing  so  we  have  unwittingly  aggravated  the 


danger  of  famine?  What  if,  in  t!ie  calm  biit  en- 
feebling  security  created  by  our  rule,  a  helpless 
and  shiftless  population  has  multiplied  without 
any  limit  but  that  of  bare  subsistence,  to  be  the 
prey  of  this  periodical  destroyer,  or  to  be  rescued 
only  by  Government  aid  on  an  enormous  scale? 
We  may  well  feel  proud  both  of  the  humanity 
which  accepts  the  burden,  and  of  the  adminis- 
trative vigor  w  ith  which  it  is  borne.  Yet  this  may 
be  an  instance  of  the  tendency  of  interference 
with  tl  e  course  of  Nature  in  other  countries  to 
work  out  in  unexpected  ways. 

Since  England  has  taken  India  into  her  own 
hands,  her  sense  of  responsibility  has  compelled 
her  to  introduce  improvements,  administrative 
and  educational,  on  the  pattern  of  the  best  Euro- 
pean civilization.  But  can  India  afford  this  sys- 
tem ?  Can  she  afford  it  when  she  has  to  pay 
exile  price  for  all  her  officials,  and  to  give  them 
all  large  pensions  besides  ?  She  is  gorgeous,  but, 
in  proportion  to  her  population,  poor.  The  Duke 
of  Wellington  is  reported  to  have  said  of  her : 
"She  is  a  magnificent  country,  and  it  would  be  a 
shame  to  govern  her  ill ;  but  it  would  be  ruinous 
to  govern  her  well."  With  an  annual  deficit 
always  called  extraordinary,  yet  regularly  recur- 
ring, is  it  certain  that  the  duke's  saying  will  not 
prove  true?  Bankruptcy  is  a  foe  at  least  as 
inuch  to  be  dreaded  by  the  Anglo-Indian  Govern- 
ment as  the  Russian  legions  which  fancy  sees 
descending  from  the  clouds  of  the  Himalayas. 

From  bankruptcy  the  Indian  GoTer.iinent  is 
in  fact  saved  only  by  the  revenue  from  the  opium- 
traflic,  which,  as  the  present  Secretary  of  State 
for  India  said  in  defending  it,  "involves  incon- 
veniences of  princijjle,  but  is  wrapped  up  in  our 
finances."  Inconveniences  of  principle  the  traffic 
does  seem  to  involve,  when  we  consider  that  it 
is  not  mer.,ly,  like  the  liquor-traffic  in  this  coun- 
try, a  trac  3  licensed  by  Government,  but  a  Gov- 
ernment trade.  The  Chinese  Government  is 
semi-barbarous,  but  it  is  paternal ;  and  there  is 
no  reason  for  doubting  the  sincerity  of  its  desire 
to  save  the  30uls  and  bodies  of  its  people  from 
the  ravages  of  this  hellish  drug.  But  we,  im- 
pelled bv  financial  exigency,  constrain  the  Chi- 
nese to  admit  it  and  bombard  Canton  when  they 
refuse.  The  excuses  put  forward — that  Govern- 
ment limits  the  traffic  by  undertaking  it,  and 
that  private  villainy  might  commit  the  crime  if 
Government  did  not — would  hardly  impose  upon 
a  child.  Such,  however,  is  the  pillar  of  Indian 
finance  and  it  can  hardly  be  thought  adaman- 
tine, u;ilcss  morality  and  religion  cease  to  be 
forces  in  the  world. 


XT. 


THE  POLICY  OF  AGGRANDIZEMENT. 


551 


1  t!ie  calm  but  en- 
ur  rule,  a  ht'lplesa 
iiultiplicd  without 
iistcnce,  to  be  tlie 
r,  or  to  be  rescued 
1  enormous  scale  ? 
of  the  humanity 
d  of  the  aduiiiiis- 
>rne.  Yet  this  may 
cy  of  interference 
other  countries  to 

ndia  into  her  own 
lity  has  compelled 
its,  administrative 

of  the  best  Euro- 
lia  afford  this  sys- 
n  she  has  to  pay 
,  and  to  give  them 
le  is  gorgeous,  but, 
1,  poor.  The  Duke 
have  said  of  her  : 
,  and  it  would  be  a 
t  would  be  ruinous 

an  annual  deficit 
et  regularly  recur- 
e's  saying  will  not 

a  foe  at  least  as 
iglo-Indian  Govern- 

which  fancy  sees 
'  the  Himalayas, 
lian  Goverament  is 
lue  from  the  opium- 
Sceretary  of  State 
t,  "involves  incon- 
wrnpped  up  in  our 
principle  the  traffic 
ve  consider  that  it 
traffic  in  this  coun- 
;rnment,  but  a  Gov- 
se  Government  is 
ernal ;  and  there  is 
ncerity  of  its  desire 
of  its  people  from 
Irug.     But  we,  im- 

constrain  the  Chi- 
l  Canton  when  they 
yard — that  Govcrn- 
indertaking  it,  and 
ommit  the  crime  if 
hardly  impose  upon 
he  pillar  of  Indian 
)c  thought  adaman- 
jligion  cease  to  be 


The  propagation  of  Christianity  will  hardly  be 
alleged  as  the  object  of  Jiritish  conquest  in  India 
or  anywhere  else,  especially  «8  the  governing  class 
of  the  imperial  nation  is  itself  rapidly  tending  in 
a  very  ditrerent  direction.  Whatever  else  Chris- 
tianity may  be,  it  is  not  a  religion  of  conquest. 
Its  founder.s,  and  that  later  body  of  apostles  who 
evangelized  and  civilized  the  northern  tribes,  pre- 
sented themselves  at  all  events  as  purely  spiritual 
agencies,  wholly  unconnected  with  military  power 
or  with  blowing  rebels  away  from  guns.  A  mem- 
ber of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gos- 
pel would,  perhaps,  be  shock'jd  by  the  suggestion 
that  whatever  is  best  and  most  spiritual  in  the 
nature  of  a  Hindoo  would  be  likely  to  restrain 
him  from  abandoning  the  religion  of  his  fathers 
to  embrace  the  religion  of  the  conqueror.  If  the 
number  of  converts  made  by  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land in  Ituiia,  backed  as  she  i'^  by  power  and 
wealth,  were  compared  with  the  number  made  by 
Xavier,  taking  the  latter  at  the  lowest  possible 
estimate,  the  result  would  be  by  no  means  flatter- 
ing to  political  religion.  Nor,  if  the  testimony  of 
the  shrewdest  observere  may  be  trusted,  are  the 
converts  of  Xavier  likely  to  have  been  less  re- 
spectable or  less  sincere  than  those  made  by  the 
Church  of  England. 

The  political  dominion  of  India  is  a  legacy 
from  generations,  tlie  political  aims,  the  commer- 
cial policy,  the  public  morality,  and  the  general 
conditions  of  wiiich  were  different  from  ours. 
Whether,  if  it  were  offered  to  us  now  for  the  first 
time,  we  should  do  wisely  in  accepting  it — whether 
it  would  not  be  better  to  secure  free  commercial 
access  without  political  dominion — may  be  rea- 
sonably doubted.  In  fact,  even  the  generations 
by  which  the  empire  was  founded  were  drawn  on 
for  the  most  part,  not  only  without  design,  but 
against  their  wishes,  and  were  always  trying  to 
set  a  limit  to  the  progress  of  conquest,  though 
they  could  never  succeed  in  doing  so.^  But,  by 
a  course  of  events  which  there  is  little  use  in  dis- 
cussing, as  it  cannot  now  be  reversed,  India  has 
become  ours ;  and  nobody  would  now  propose 
that  we  should  either  give  it  up  or  let  it  be  taken 
fron»  us.  Independently  of  imperial  pride,  we 
are  bound  to  maintain  our  hold  on  it  by  strong 
bonds  both  of  duty  and  of  hiterest.  Our  depart- 
ure, after  siipprjssing  the  native  governments 
and  destroying  the  organizing  forces,  would  con- 
sign the  country  to  a  sanguinary  anarcliy,  and 
place  in  jeopardy  British  property  and  invest- 

»  See  tho  proface  to  Mr.  Sidney  Owon's  "Selection  from 
Marquis  Wellesloy's  Dispitches,"  and  tho  dispatches  them- 
solvos. 


ments,  the  aggregate  value  of  which  can  hardly 
be  less  than  four  hundred  millions.  Still,  of  the 
two  objects,  India  and  England,  the  most  spirited 
advocate  of  aggrandizement  must  allow  that  Eng- 
land is  to  be  preferred,  and  therefore  that  there 
is  a  limit  to  the  perils  to  be  incurred,  and  the 
sacrifices  to  be  made,  for  the  sake  of  India.  Some 
things  have  been  mentioned  which  seem  to  show 
that  this  limit  is  not  entirely  beyond  the  horizon, 
and  even  that,  unless  Indian  finances  assume  a 
more  hopeful  aspect,  it  may  come  very  distinctly 
into  view. 

There  are  tn'O  ways  of  keeping  our  hold  on 
India.  One,  and  no  doubt  the  more  certain  while 
it  lasts,  is  to  forego  internal  improvement,  and  to 
lavish  the  earnings  of  our  people  in  the  mainte- 
nance of  armaments  large  enough  to  command 
the  Mediterranean,  at  the  same  time  occupying 
Egypt  and  every  place  else  that  maybe  necessary 
in  order  literally  to  annex  India  to  England  by  an 
unbroken  line  of  British  territories,  fortresses, 
and  waters.  The  other  way  is  to  keep  on  good 
terms  with  the  Mediterranean  nations.  What- 
ever depends  on  amity  must  be  to  some  extent 
precarious.  But  there  is  no  apparent  reason  why 
this  amity  should  be  broken.  Our  possession  of 
India  does  not  hurt  or  menace  the  Mediterranean 
nations  in  the  slightest  degree;  it  benefits  them, 
so  long  as  we  keep  the  Indian  ports  open  to  their 
trade,  and  it  need  not  give  them  any  sort  of  um- 
brage. To  do  wanton  mischief  may  be  in  their 
power,  but  there  is  no  ground  for  presuming  that 
they  will  be  inclined  to  do  it,  especially  as  they 
would  obviously  hurt  themselves.  As  to  the  po- 
tentate, whoever  he  may  be,  through  whose  ter- 
ritory the  Suez  Canal  runs,  he  will  surely  be  no 
more  tempted  to  destroy  or  close  it  than  a  turn- 
pike man  is  tempted  to  nail  up  his  own  gate. 

That  Russia  meditates  an  invasion  of  British 
India  is  a  belief  which,  if  it  were  not  shared  by 
some  persons  of  mark,  we  should  be  inclined  to 
call  a  chimera.  Mere  proximity  does  not  denote 
hostile  designs ;  if  it  did,  there  would  be  no  peace 
on  earth.  The  natural  barrier  between  the  two 
empires  is  stronger  than  that  between  any  other 
two  conterminous  countries  in  the  world.  If 
Russia,  reckoning  by  mere  miles,  without  regard 
to  obstacles,  is  near  to  us,  we  are  equally  near  to 
her;  and  if  she  has  arrived  at  this  position  by 
continual  additions  of  territory,  we  have  done 
the  same.  Both  empires  have  grown  in  the  same 
manner,  and  one  as  naturally  as  the  other,  by  ex- 
tension in  a  sort  of  political  vacuum,  where  noth- 
ing opposed  them  but  the  arms  of  barbarous  or 
ba!f-civilized  powers.     In  each  case,  probably. 


552 


TJIB  POPULAR  SCIENCE  MONTULY.— SUPPLEMENT. 


'    J:  i 


l\ 


the  growth  has  been  to  a  great  extent  ir. de- 
signed, and  evt-n  involuntary,  though  we  persist 
ill  ascribing  to  deliberate  and  far-reaching  ambi- 
tion on  the  part  of  Russia  that  which  we  know,  on 
our  own  part,  is  to  be  ascribed  to  nothing  of  the 
kind.  That  either  England  or  Russia,  having 
reached  the  foot  of  the  Himalayas  by  extending 
her  empire  over  regions  unoccupied  by  any  civil- 
ized nation,  will  proceed  to  scale  the  Himalayas 
for  the  purpose  of  attacking  another  grc;'c  Euro- 
pean power,  is  as  little  to  be  presumed  <■■,  it  is  to 
be  presumed  that  the  tide  will  scale  the  cliff  be- 
cause it  has  raced  in  over  a  sandy  flat.  The 
movements  of  Russia  farther  west  are  assignable 
to  an  obvious  cause,  and  one  totally  unconnected 
with  any  imaginable  designs  on  India.  Every 
great  and  growing  power  is  led  by  a  natural  im- 
pulse to  make  its  way  to  an  open  sea.  England 
would  hardly  submit  to  being  corked  up  in  the 
Dardanelles  in  order  to  gratify  the  jealous  appie- 
hensions  of  Russia,  and  she  cannot  expect  that 
Rus  ia  will  complacently  submit  to  being  corked 
up  in  order  to  gratify  hers.  Suppose  Russia,  like 
ourselves,  obtains  the  full  freedom  of  the  Medi- 
teiTanean.  All  diplomatists  and  Russophobists 
hold  up  their  hands  in  horror  at  the  thought. 
But  what  is  the  specific  evil  which  would  ensue  ? 
Why  is  Sebastopol,  or,  if  it  came  to  that,  Constan- 
tinople, so  much  more  likely  to  be  dangerous 
than  Brest?  If  Russia  is  provoked,  she  will  very 
likely  give  us  trouble  in  India ;  but  why  should 
she  be  provoked  ? 

It  is  assumed  that  the  Suez  Ca  al  would  be 
available  in  time  of  war.  This  is  a  point  on 
which,  of  course,  we  cannot  presume  to  form  an 
opinion  ;  but  it  lies  so  near  the  root  (  f  the  whole 
question  that  it  is  to  be  hoped  a  deliberate 
opinion  will  be  formed.  To  occujiy  Egypt  in  de- 
fiance of  the  wrath  and  future  hostility  of  France, 
to  go  to  the  expense  of  creating  armaments  pow- 
erful enough  to  command  the  eastern  Mediterra- 
nean, and  then  to  see  the  object  for  which  all 
this  had  been  done  practically  annihilated  by  a 
few  shillings'  worth  of  dynamite  or  the  scuttling 
of  an  old  ship,  would  be  mortifying  in  the  extreme. 

Already  our  nervous  anxloty  about  the  canal 
has  brought  an  avalanche  of  calamity  on  the 
world.  To  avoid  this  war  with  all  its  horrors, 
and  the  danger  of  further  '•onflfgration  which  it 
involves,  it  was  necessary  that  from  the  outset 
separate  interests  should  be  suppressed,  and  that 
the  crisis  should  be  treated  as  a  European  one,  to 
be  dealt  with  by  the  common  councils  of  Europe. 
But  hardly  had  it  arrived  when  Fr;''  iid  avowed 
her  intention  of  separately  securmg  her  own  in- 


terests, and  pounced  upon  the  Suez  Canal.  T)'*j 
was  the  signal  that  a  wreck  had  commenced, 
and  that  everybody  nmst  look  out  for  himself 
Everybody  did  look  out  for  himself;  every- 
body made  his  own  game.  Cordial  cooperation 
thenceforth  was  impossible,  and  the  inevitable  re- 
sult was  this  war — a  war  which  puts  back  civili- 
zation. Lord  Derby  has  said  that  of  British  in- 
terests the  greatest  is  peace,  and  what  Lord  Derby 
says  is  always  wise.  If  we  ask  why  Lord  Derby 
did  not  make  a  sincere  and  resolute  effort  to  pre- 
serve the  greatest  of  British  interests  by  enforc- 
ing in  common  with  Russia  and  the  other  powers 
the  reforms  to  which  Turkey  was  pledged,  and 
which,  if  vigorously  pressed,  she  would  most  cer- 
tainly have  conceded,  the  answer  will  partly  be 
that  this  obvious  line  of  policy  was  crossed  by 
the  alarm  about  the  Suez  Canal  and  the  interests 
of  England  in  the  East. 

Egypt  no  doubt  differs  greatly  in  some  respects 
from  India.  But  in  Egypt,  as  in  India,  you  would 
have  a  dominant  and  a  subject  race.  You  would 
have  a  foreign  government  ruling,  on  arbitrary 
principles,  over  people  divided  from  the  officials 
by  a  wide  soci  d  gulf  The  reflex  action  on  the 
character  of  he  imperial  country  would  probably 
be  much  the  same. 

In  the  course  of  empire,  one  act  of  aggran- 
dizement leads  to  another.     The  conquest  of  a 
small  territory  round  the  British  factories  in  India 
has  led  to  the  conquest  of  the  whole  country. 
This,  again,  leads   to   the  occupation  of  Egypt. 
India  being  in  the  hands  of  England,  no  one  will 
deny  that  the  occupation  of  Egypt,  in  case  of  a 
break-up  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  presents  itself 
as  a  natural  question  for  consideration.     But  the 
advocates  of  the  measure  must  allow  it  to  be 
fiiirly  discussed,  and  not  think  to  settle  it  by  im- 
pugning the  patriotism  of  their  opponents,  though, 
as  wc  have  already  admitted,  the  nation  is  just 
now  in  a  mood  in  which  such  appeals  are  likely 
to  tell.     If  the  party  of  moderation  is  inferior  to 
the  party  of  aggrandizement  in  anything,  it  is  not 
in  love  of  the  country,  but  in  power  of  discerning 
her  true  interests.     It  does  not  seem  to  itself  to 
be  advocating  a  policy  of  weakness.     It  holds 
that,  as  we  said  before,  the  strength  of  England 
is  in  herself,   and   that   she   derived   more   real 
strength  from  one  of  her  own  counties  than  she 
docs  from  all  her  foreign  dependencies  put  to- 
gether.    It  holds,  in  fact,  that  acquisition  of  ter- 
ritory which  is  not  self-defending  is  extension,  not 
of  strength,  but  of  weakness ;   and  in  proof  of 
the  fact  it  may  cite,  amonp;  other  things,  the  per- 
petual complaints  of  its  opponents  that  the  em- 


mi. 


THE  POLICY  OF  AGGRAN-DIZEMENT. 


553 


Suez  Cunal.  Tl-'j 
c  had  coiiiiuenced, 
)k  out  for  liimselt". 
r  liiniiiclf;  evory- 
Jordial  cooperation 
id  the  inevitable  re- 
ch  puts  back  civili- 

tli;it  of  British  in- 
nd  what  Lord  Derby 
Lsk  wliy  Lord  Deriiy 
ssolute  etl'ort  to  prc- 
intercsts  by  enforc- 
nd  tlie  other  powers 
■y  was  pledged,  and 
she  would  most  cer- 
iswcr  will  partly  be 
dicy  was  crossed  by 
aal  and  the  interests 

jatly  in  some  respects 
s  in  India,  you  would 
!Ct  race.  You  would 
ruling,  on  arbitrary 
led  from  the  officials 
reflex  action  on  the 
untry  would  probably 

e,  one  act  of  aggran- 
The  conquest  of  a 
itish  factories  in  India 
f  the  whole  country, 
occupation  of  Egypt. 
'  England,  no  one  will 
f  Egypt,  in  case  of  a 
ilmpiro,  presents  itself 
msideration.     But  the 
must  allow  it  to  bo 
ink  to  settle  it  by  im- 
lelr  opponents,  though, 
ted,  the  nation  is  just 
uch  appeals  are  likely 
oderation  is  inferior  to 
it  in  anything,  it  is  not 
in  power  of  discerning 
!3  not  seem  to  itself  to 
f  weakness.     It  holds 
3  strength  of  England 
he   dcrivci::   more   real 
own  counties  than  she 
I  dependencies  put  to- 
that  acquisition  of  ter- 
endiug  is  extension,  not 
ness ;   and  in  proof  of 
?;  other  things,  the  per- 
opponcnts  that  the  em- 


pire is  unfortified,  and  their  unheeded  cries  for 
further  expenditure  in  defenses.'  It  avows  that 
its  main  objects  of  interest  are  not  external  but 
internal,  and  that  it  is  less  solicitous  about  remote 
acquisitions,  and  tliose  posts  in  Asia  the  names 
of  which  are  dear  and  familiar  to  the  pundits  of 
Kussophobia,  than  about  the  many  millions  of 
Englishmen  who  at  present  share  only  to  a  very 
miserable  extent  the  advantages,  moral,  intellect- 
ual, or  material,  of  English  eivilizaticm.  It  docs 
not  admit  that  this  is  "parochialism,"  unless 
England  is  a  parish.  It  desires,  at  all  events,  to 
see  the  proof  that  aggrandizement  is  good  for  the 
whole  English  peoi)le.  As  to  the  question  of 
courage  or  cowaidice,  which  is  LJomctimes  raised 
ir.  the  fervor  of  debate,  statesmen  and  journalists, 
however  bellicose,  do  not  go  to  the  front;  and 
the  only  way  in  which  they  can  show  courage  of 
any  kind  is  by  manfully  expressing  what  sectn  to 
them  true  opinions,  though  they  may  happen  to 
?je  unpopular  at  the  tiuie. 

To  make  a  perfectly  clean  breast,  we  will  con- 
fess that  there  are  some  peoi)le  who  believe  that 
the  consecration  of  filibustering  nationality  is 
rather  out  of  date;  that  the  day  of  humanity  has 
dawned,  and  that  to  resent  its  arrival  is  about  as 
rational  as  to  resent  the  arrival  of  autumn  or 
anything  else  that  the  curse  of  Nature  brings. 

It  is  the  more  desirable  that  at  this  crisis,  on 
which  the  policy  of  the  future  may  depend,  there 
should  be  a  full  discussion  of  the  subject  in  the 
press  (which  is  now,  more  truly  than  rarliament, 
the  great  council  of  the  nation),  and  that  the  mind 
of  England  should  be  deliberately  made  up,  be- 
cause otherwise  her  hand  may  be  forced  by  agen- 
cies which  the  respectable  advocates  of  aggran- 
dizement would  disown,  though  they  can  hardly 
hi'lp  warming  them  into  life  by  encouraging  the 
general  tendency  and  decrying  the  principles 
which  rcf^train  it.  For  a  description  of  these 
agencies  we  will  once  more  have  recourse  to  Lord 
Elgin,  who  encountered  them  in  China,  where 
tliey  have  more  than  once  been  successful  in 
drawing  England  into  a  use  of  her  power  which, 
it  is  to  be  hoped,  no  party  among  us  would  have 
deliberately  approved  : 

"  I  never  felt  so  ashamed  of  myself  in  my  life, 
ami  Elliot  remarked  that  the  trip  seemed  to  have 
nuule  me  sad.  Tiiere  we  were,  accumulating  the 
moms  of  destruction  under  the  very  eyes,  and 
within  the  reach,  of  a  population  of  about  1,000,000 

1  Tho  Canadian  riovorninent  wns  nskcd  tlio  otlior  dny, 
l)y  an  oiiiiiipiit  orKan  of  ftpKTnndlzcinpnt.  to  qumh-iiple  its 
inililary  oxpcndituro,  and  this  in  Ww  fuoo  of  a  fidlintJ  ro" 
cniic.    YdU  nd^'lit  literally  ns  Wfil  usk  the  Canadian  Gov- 
ornment  for  tholr  heads. 


people,  against  whom  these  means  of  destruction 
were  to  be  employed  !  '  Yes,'  1  said  to  Elliot,  '  I 
am  sad,  bceuuse  when  I  look  at  that  town,  1  feel 
that  I  am  earning  for  myself  a  place  in  the  Litany 
immediately  alter  "  plague,  pustilenee,  and  fam- 
ine." I  believe,  however,  that,  as  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  do  other- 
wise than  as  I  have  done.  I  could  not  have  aban- 
dimed  the  demand  to  eutL-r  the  city  after  what 
happened  last  winter,  without  compromising  our 
position  in  China  altngetlier,  and  opening  the  way 
to  ealamities  even  greater  than  those  now  before 
us.  I  niade  my  demands  on  Yeh  as  moderate  as  1 
could,  so  as  to  give  hiiu  a  chance  of  accepting  ;  al- 
tliough,  if  he  had  accepted,  I  knew  that  I  should 
have  brought  on  my  head  the  imprecations  both 
of  the  navy  and  army  and  of  the  civilians,  the  time 
being  given  \>y  the  missionaries  and  the  women. 
And  now  Yeh  having  refused,  I  shall  do  whatever 
I  can  possibly  do  to  secure  the  adoption  of  plans 
of  attack,  etc.,  waich  will  luad  to  the  least  de- 
struction of  life  and  property.'  .  .  .  The  weath- 
er is  ehanning ;  the  thermometer  about  Gu"  in 
the  shade  in  the  morning  ;  the  sun  powerful, 
and  the  atmosphere  beautifully  clear.  When  we 
steamed  up  to  Canton,  luul  saw  the  rich  alluviu' 
banks  covered  with  tlii;  luxuriant  evidenees  of  u' 
rivaled  industry  and  natural  fertility  eombineu ; 
heyond  them,  barien  uplands,  sprinkled  with  a 
soil  of  reddisli  tint,  wliich  gave  them  the  ai>pear- 
ance  of  heather  slopes  in  the  Highlands  ;  and  be- 
\  j\\'\  these  again,  the  white-cloud  mountain-rangL', 
standing  out  bold  and  blue  in  the  clear  sunshine, 
I  thought  bitterly  of  thofie  who,  for  the  most  selfish 
objects,  are  trampling  under  loot  this  ancient  civil- 
ization.''—("  Letters  and  Journals,"  page  21-J.) 

"  I  am  now  oif  from  Canton,  never,  I  hope,  to 
see  it  again.  Two  month"  I  have  been  there,  en- 
gaged in  this  painful  service,  clucking,  as  I  have 
been  best  able  to  do,  the  disposition  to  maltreat 
this  mfortunate  people.  .  .  .  On  the  whole!  think 
I  have  been  successful.  There  never  was  a  Chinese 
town  which  suffered  so  little  by  the  occupation  of 
a  hostile  force ;  and,  considcrina  the  ditflculti(^s 
which  our  alliance  with  tho  French  (thouirh  I  have 
had  all  sui.port  from  Gros,  in  so  far  as  he  cim  trivo 
it)  has  occasioned,  it  is  a  very  signal  success.  Tho 
good  p>ople  at  IIong-Kong,  etc.,  do  not  know 
wheth'  .'to  be  incredulous  or  disgusted  at  this  pol- 
icy" (page  224). 

"  The  settlement  hero  is  airainst  treaty.  Tt 
consists  mainly  of  agents  of  the  two  great  opium 
houses,  Dent  and  Jardine,  with  their  hangers-on. 
This,  with  a  considerable  business  in  the  coolie 
trade — which  consists  in  kidnapping  wretched 
coolies,  putting  them  on  board  ships  where  all  the 
horrors  of  tho  slave-trade  are  reproduced,  and 
sending  them  on  Mpccious  i)romises  to  such  places 
as  Cuba— is  the  chief  business  of  the  'foreign' 
merchants  at  Swatow  "  (page  22*1). 

"  Besides,  I  own  that  I  have  a  conscientious 


■ 


I  I 


654 


THE  POPUL^^R  SCIENCE  MONTnLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 


feeling  on  the  subject.  I  am  sure  that  in  our  rela- 
tions with  those  Chinese  wo  have  acted  scandal- 
ously, and  I  would  not  have  been  a  party  to  tlio 
measures  of  violence  which  have  been  taken,  if  I 
had  not  believed  that  I  could  work  out  of  them 
some  good  for  them.  Could  I  leave  this,  the  real- 
ly noblest  part  of  my  task,  to  be  worked  out  by 
others  ?  Any  one  could  have  obtained  the  Treaty 
of  Tientsin.  AVhat  was  really  meritorious  was, 
that  it  should  have  been  obtained  at  so  small  a 
cost  of  human  sulfering.  But  this  is  also  what  dis- 
credits it  in  the  eyes  of  ma/t!/,  of  almost  ail,  liere. 
If  we  had  carried  on  war  for  some  years,  if  we  had 
carried  misery  and  desolation  all  over  the  empire, 
it  would  have  been  thought  quite  natural  that  the 
emperor  should  have  been  reduced  to  accept  the 
terms  imposed  upon  him  at  Tientsin.  But  to  do 
all  this  by  means  of  a  demonstration  at  Tientsin  ! 
The  announcement  was  received  with  a  yell  of  de- 
rision by  connoisseurs  and  baffled  speculators  in 
tea"  (page  280). 

"  IJavo  you  read  Russell's  book  on  the  Indian 
mutiny  ?  I  have  done  so,  and  I  reeonnneml  it  to 
you.  It  has  made  mo  very  sad ;  but  it  only  eon- 
firms  what  I  believed  before  respecting  the  scan- 


dalous treatment  which  the  natives  received  at  our 
hands  in  India.  I  am  glad  that  he  has  had  courage 
to  speak  out  as  he  does  on  this  jioint.  Can  I  do 
anything  to  prevent  England  frcmi  culling  down 
on  her.self  God's  curse  lor  brutalities  eounnitted 
on  anotlier  feeble  Oriental  race?  Or  are  all  my 
exertions  to  result  only  in  the  extension  of  the 
area  over  which  Englishmen  are  to  exhibit  how 
hollow  and  superficial  are  both  their  civilization 
and  their  Christianity  i  The  tone  of  the  two  or 
three  men  connected  with  mercantile  houses  in 
China,  whom  I  lind  on  board,  is  all  for  blood  and 
massacre  on  a  great  scale.  I  hope  they  will  bo 
disappointed ;  but  it  is  not  a  cheerful  or  hopeful 
prospect,  look  at  it  from  what  side  one  may  " 
(page  325). 

Lord  Elgin,  we  repeat,  was  neither  a  pseudo- 
philanthropist  nor  a  patriot  of  every  country  but 
his  own  ;  he  was  wanting  neither  in  British  feel- 
ing nor  in  courage ;  and  the  records  of  his  ex- 
perience deserve  attention,  as  well  as  the  snort- 
ings  of  the  war-horses  on  the  Stock  Exchange  and 
in  Tall  Mall. 

— Fortn'ifjhlly  Review. 


4_ 


/I         '> 


THE  SKEPTICISM  or  BELIEYEES. 


By  LESLIE  STEPHEN. 


NOT  long  ago  an  interesting  question  was 
discussed  by  a  respectable  and  presumal)ly 
competent  meeting.  Why,  it  was  asked,  does 
not  the  spiritual  warfare  against  the  unbeliever 
meet  with  greater  success  ?  A  "  materialistic 
atheism."  as  a  high  authority  assured  us,  is  "  in 
the  air ; "  and  the  malign  contagion  spreads  in 
spite  of  Bampton  lecturers,  Christian  Evidence 
Societies,  and  other  apologetic  ninchiuery.  At 
all  which  it  is  hard  not  to  exclaim,  Sancta  simpli- 
citas!  Can  you  really  not  guess  this  very  open 
secret  ?  Men  die  of  many  diseases  ;  creeds  of 
one — the  disease  of  being  found  out.  Do  you 
ever  remember  that  David  Iluine  died  ."  century 
ago,  and  that  the  matter  which  absorbs  the  in- 
tellects of  the  most  zealous  part  of  the  clergy  at 
the  present  day  is  the  "  eastward  position  ? " 
When  such  a  spectacle  as  the  Folkestone  case  is 
presented  to  gods  and  men,  what  wonder  that 
unbelief  spreads  ?  If  a  more  articulate  reply 
were  requested,  one  might  perhaps  say  that  the 
old  belief  is  perishing  chiefly  for  two  reasons: 
first,  because  it  has  become  a  sham  belief;  sec- 
ondly, because  it  is  a  negative  belief.  No  man 
can  make  converts  who  does  not  believe  what  he 


says ;  nor  will  he,  as  a  general  ride,  make  them 
rapidly,  when  his  creed  consists  chiefly  in  deny- 
ing the  strongest  and  most  fruitful  convictions 
of  his  neighbors.  I  shall  not  hero  inquire  into 
the  first  of  these  explanations ;  but  it  may  be 
worth  while  briefly  to  defend  the  other,  which, 
indeed,  is,  at  first  sight,  in  greater  need  of  de- 
fense. 

It  sounds  paradoxical  to  declare  that  the  or- 
thodox belief  is  essentially  skeptical.     The  infi- 
del is  popularly  identified  with  the  Mephistophe- 
Ics,  whose  essence  it  is  to  deny.     He  denies,  it  is 
said,   a  hereafter  and  a  divine   clement  in  the 
present.     That   denial  implies  the  abandonment 
of  the  most  cheering  hopes  and  highest  aspira- 
tions of  mankind.     To  bring  the  charge  of  skep- 
ticism against  those  who  arc  fighting  against  ma- 
terialism and  atheism  is  at  best  to  indulge  in  a 
frivolous  tu  quoipie.     A  parallel  phrase,  however, 
is  common  on  the  lips  of  the  orthodox.     It  is  a 
commonplace  to  taunt  skeptics   with  credulity, 
I  nor  is  the  taunt  without  foundation.     So  long  as 
;  men  of  science  continue  to  dabble  in  the  filth  of 
[  "  spiritualiam"  it  will  have  a  meaning.     A  con- 
;  fessor  is,  after  all,  better  than  a  medium  ;  and  I 


I 
■i 

% 


lENT. 

atives  received  at  our 
lat  lie  lias  Lad  courage 
this  ])oiiit.  Can  I  do 
d  troin  calling  down 
brutalities  couimittcd 
race  J  Or  are  all  my 
the  extension  of  the 
n  are  to  exhibit  liow 
lotli  their  civilization 
e  tone  of  the  two  or 
mercantile  houses  in 
I,  is  all  for  blood  and 
I  hope  they  will  be 
a  clieerful  or  hopeful 
rhat  side   one  may  " 


sas  neither  a  pseudo- 
of  every  country  but 
leither  in  British  fcol- 
he  records  of  his  ex- 
as  well  as  the  snort- 
;  Stock  Exchange  and 


Forhurjldly  Rcviciv. 


loral  rule,  make  them 
nsiirits  chiefly  in  deny- 
st  fruitful  convictions 
not  hero  inquire  into 
tions ;  but  it  may  be 
end  the  other,  which, 
n  ;rrcater  need  of  de- 


to  declare  that  the  or- 
y  skeptical.  The  infi- 
with  the  Mcphistophe- 
deny.  He  denies,  it  is 
ilvinc  clement  in  the 
ilics  the  abandonment 
es  and  highest  aspira- 
ng  the  charge  of  skep- 
re  fighting  against  ma- 
at  best  to  indulge  in  a 
,rallel  phrase,  however, 
the  orthodox.  It  is  a 
:cptic3  with  credulity, 
oundation.  So  long  as 
>  dabble  in  the  filth  of 
re  a  meaning.  A  con- 
than  a  medium  ;  and  I 


